Will Fort Pierce Benefit from Recor's $6,000 course?

The City Manager says he'll stay in Fort Pierce to justify the commission's approval of his $6,000 two-week course to learn how to be a better city manager.

Recor says he learned from mistakes, wants to stay as Fort Pierce city manager

By Laurie K. Blandford

Friday, March 9, 2012

FORT PIERCE — City Manager David Recor, who nearly was fired last year and then put his name in the running for another job, said he's staying in Fort Pierce.

Recor withdrew his name this week from the list of six candidates chosen as finalists for a city manager position in Palm Beach County. He said it was to show commitment to his current job and give closure to worries he might leave shortly after city commissioners agreed to spend more than $6,000 of taxpayer money on training that would enhance his professional credentials.

"I do not intend to use the (institute) as a steppingstone to something else," Recor said on Tuesday. "I am happy in my current position."

He also said he's learned from his mistakes.

Mayor Bob Benton said he's glad Recor decided to withdraw from Boynton Beach's list of finalists and hopes the other commissioners have confidence in Recor.

"I'm glad things are working out because I have confidence in him," Benton said.

Commissioner Tom Perona said in an email he expects a 100 percent commitment from the city manager because it's the only way a local government can be effective.

Boynton Beach officials confirmed that Recor's name was withdrawn from consideration.

Recor said he always planned to withdraw his name from the running but was waiting to hear from Boynton Beach officials, who contacted him Monday afternoon about signing disclosure forms as a finalist for the position.

In September, Commissioner Eddie Becht asked for a vote of no confidence in Recor to be placed on the commission's agenda and then changed the agenda item to a vote on terminating Recor's contract, but commissioners voted 3-2 in October to keep Recor. Neither Becht nor Commissioner Rufus Alexander could be reached for comment this week.

Recor said when Boynton Beach reached out to him in October to apply for the city manager position, he agreed.

"We hit a bump in the road here in Fort Pierce, and my future was uncertain," Recor said. "Now, six months later, we're in a much different place."

Recor said he's staying because it's an exciting time in Fort Pierce, with progress on the city's strategic planning initiatives and construction on the city marina project.

He also received unanimous support from commissioners last month to attend the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia's Colgate Darden School of Business in July and was accepted two weeks ago. In addition to the initial $6,000, Recor said he would use nearly $600 for his flight, mileage and meals from the remaining $2,000 designated for travel, education and conferences in the City Manager's Office budget.

Recor said the institute is a highly competitive learning opportunity with senior executives from across the nation. He said he's motivated by a challenge and driven by sense of accomplishment, and he plans to develop the city into a high-performance local government organization.

"Every day, my job as city manager here in Fort Pierce presents me with a new and exciting challenge, and that's what keeps me coming to work," Recor said. "Until my job gets boring (or) until there's not another challenge for me, I'm going to want to be the city manager in Fort Pierce."

Recor said he was flattered to be approached in February last year by Fort Lauderdale to apply for its city manager position and he considered it a compliment to have been selected as one of 12 finalists for that job. Recor said Boynton Beach recruited him because he had been recruited by Fort Lauderdale.

"That really not only put me on the radar for a lot of other executive recruiters, but it put Fort Pierce on the radar," Recor said.

Recor said staying in the city and taking himself off the job market wouldn't hurt him professionally because he faces constant challenges in the city.

Recor said he has demonstrated he can respond to constructive feedback from commissioners, referring to his plea to commissioners during the city's final budget hearing in September to raise the city's property tax rate to bring in the same amount of revenue as the city brought in the previous year — despite commissioners making it clear they wanted to keep the rate the same.

Recor said he learned from the experience and was reminded of his role — city managers provide information, options and alternatives while commissioners decide policy.

"It's never easy to admit when you make a mistake, but the first step in learning and growing and improving so you don't make the same mistake again is to acknowledge that you've made a mistake," Recor said. "I am not perfect, but the commission as a whole and I as city manager have moved forward over the last six months in a positive and productive manner."

Commissioner Reggie Sessions said he has confidence in Recor and hoped "this hardship might have strengthened him and matured him somehow." The average person would have "run for the hills," Sessions said.

"Even though this has been a rocky road for him and, I guess you could say, a lack of job security given the recent sequence of events, he's never given up."

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/mar/09/recor-says-he-learned-from-mistakes-wants-to-as/