- October 7, 2024
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Palm Coast's search for a new city manager will likely not begin until late summer and the city manager will be chosen by the council members elected in the fall.
As three of the five council members are running either for reelection or for a Flagler County Commission seat, council member Theresa Carli Pontieri originally suggested in an April meeting that the new council be the one to decide on a city manager. At the time, all four other council members agreed to move forward with the search themselves instead of waiting.
But Vice Mayor Ed Danko changed his mind in the May 14 City Council meeting, saying after much thought he agreed with Pontieri's original point. Danko suggested to the council that the city wait to continue the search until after the newly elected members are installed.
“Lauren [Johnston, acting city manager] with the help of Jason [DeLorenzo, chief of staff] and our staff have done a wonderful job,” Danko said. “I think we can push this out.”
Both Danko and council member Nick Klufas are running for seats on the Flagler County Commission, meaning at least two new faces will join the City Council in November. Mayor David Alfin is also running for reelection.
Council woman Cathy Heighter, also switching from her previous position, sided with Danko, agreeing that Johnston, as acting city manager was doing a great job.
Klufas disagreed with the idea of waiting to begin the search process, citing the council "should fulfill our responsibilities now instead of deferring this important decision to the next electoral cycle."
Klufas said it becomes a problem when a council places pressure to fill the city manager position before the end of their terms.
"I think right now it's really a critical critical time that we have experience up here [on the dais]," he said. "I don't think that we are actually under any pressure to place a city manager."
Alfin pointed out that choosing either a firm to round up candidates or deciding to send out a bid for a firm is different than choosing a city manager. Danko argued he wasn't so sure this council should even decide how the search is conducted, and instead leave all of it in the hands of the future council.
Human Resources staff presented three options for the council to consider adopting at a later business meeting for the search. Two of the options were to piggyback on existing search firm contracts with different cities while the third was for the council to begin its own bid process to find a search firm, which takes around 45 days.
One contract would be to piggyback a St. Johns County contract with the search firm Colin Baenziger & Associates. The city would be able to immediately begin the search with this contract.
The other piggyback option was with New Smyrna Beach and the firm Strategic Government Resources. HR Manager Tim Wilsey said the firm would not be able to begin searching for a Palm Coast city manager candidate until the late summer.
Council member Theresa Carli Pontieri, attending the meeting virtually while on maternity leave, said while she still felt that the newly elected should choose the city manager, there wasn't anything wrong with the council beginning the search process.
Pontieri said her preference was the New Smyrna contract, namely because of the price: the contract, she told the Observer, is for $25,400, and not to exceed $27,900. Because the firm cannot start the work with Palm Coast until late summer, it almost guarantees the city will not have city manager candidates to review until the fall, regardless.
The rest of the council also agreed, giving consensus for the HR staff to move forward with the New Smyrna contract. The council will still need to review and approve the contract through a vote in a business meeting down the road.
