02-24-1988
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CITY OF
SCREENING
February 24,
CITY
EDGEWATER
COMMITTEE
1988 9:00
HALL
A.M.
MINUTES
The Chairman, Thomas Sheridan, called the meeting of the Screening
Committee to order at 9:30 a.m. in City Hall.
ROLL CALL:
Members present were: Wallace Trickey, Dominick Fazzone, James
Bonneville, William Hoffart and Thomas Sheridan.
The Chairman announced there would be no approval of minutes and
the Committee would go on to Old Business.
OLD BUSINESS
Mr. Sheridan said he would like to read a few things to the Committee
which, with their approval, may help determine the way we go when
conducting oral interviews. Mr. Sheridan then read suggested procedures,
including; reason for desire to serve on Board or Committee; qualifications;
knowledge and comprehension of function of Board 0rCb:!'!t":J.i ttee; availcib;i}i ty.;
ability to be subjective in discussion on issues; reaction to adverse
decisions; conflict of interest (referring to Government-in-the Sunshine
1987 Edition) and political association. Mr. Sheridan stated he had
requested copies of the Sunshine Law, pages 13, 14 and 15, be made to
give to all applicants. Mr. Sheridan then read from "Informational
Concept" wh~ch had been sent to the Mayor and Council members, dealing
with the main objective of the Advisory Board Screening Committee, which
is to provide for the Mayor and City Council's consideration of members
to serve on the City's Advisory Boards and Committees. Mr. Trickey asked
what Mr. Sheridan meant by number of applicants for amount of vacancies;
he believes we should take more applications than we have vacancies. Mr.
Sheridan answered yes, but the idea is to get these people lined up, have
them indoctrinated for the future. Mr. Fazzone then suggested the Concept
is a good idea and asked if it couldn't be typed up and given to the
members for study. Mr. Sheridan said that was the idea; the secretary
will type this up for the Committee's packets next time. Mr. Sheridan
also stated these are merely suggestions, something to work with; the
Committee has to start somewhere. Mr. Hoffart asked if the applicants
would be attending meetings, and Mr. Sheridan stated this is voluntary,
but if they are interested enough to serve on a Board they should be
interested enough to find out about the Board. He also adden these people
may go to a meeting and decide they do not want to serve. The 'Committee.had
an in-depth discussion of each point of the "Informational Concept", with
Mr. Sheridan saying we must remember we are dealing with people; we must
find out what their motives are; there are certain answers we want; the
Committee has an obligation to the City and to the applicant, to give
them a fair shake.
The Committee discussed the question of "Conflict of Interest", stating
several times members could not vote because of conflict of interest and
Mr. Bonneville said this could rule out a lot of people. Mr. Sheridan
said there is always that question.
Mr. Sheridan informed the Committee they.have until March 3rd to get
applicants screened and interviewed for recommendation to Council;
recommendations must be in the Wednesday before Council meets. He added
since the Committee will be meeting that day, perhaps they can hold the
agenda for Thursday morning. Mr. Sheridan suggested the Committee may
have to meet two or three times to have it finished by that time.
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A discussion also followed as to the duties of the new Land Development
Regulatory Agency which will require super-duper people. The secretary
then read to the Committee applications received as of this date. A
discussion was held pertaining to each applicant, with the Committee
noting several applicants had already served on Boards. Discussions
were also held regarding board members serving on different boards,
such asbuilders and real estate developers, perhaps having a conflict
of interest. Mr. Bonneville stated we do have to have people with
knowledge and in the past, real estate people and developers have served
on the Zoning Board and the Board of Adjustments and he believes it is
a conflict of interest as they are usually the first people to apply for
a variance. Mr. Sheridan stated when we start questioning these people
and ask if their line of work would put them in conflict with the Board,
we will have to make a determination and try to avoid conflict of interests,
putting emphasis on people who can do the best job for the City. Mr.
Bonneville stated the Committee may be overly critical in the beginning,
especically dealing with builders and real estate developers and Mr.
Sheridan said yes, this is a new Committee and we are starting at scratch
and may make mistakes; if we see we make mistakes, we can rectify it
later on. He also added we may have to lower our standards a little
but he would like to keep the standards high to attract the best. Mr.
Sheridan then asked the secretary to set up files for each Board as
applications come in.
After discussion as to how to proceed toward recommendations to Council,
Mr. Sheridan suggested the Committee take the applications and resumes,
study them and list the names they are interested in numerically. Mr.
Sheridan said the Council will be relying on us to send up qualified
people to do the job and he doesn't believe too many would be turned down.
He also stated he doesn't want to see anyone on the new Agency who may be
going in for self-gain, a lark, for the prestige, or to feed an ego. Mr.
Bonneville said applicants should be looking down the road and Mr.
Sheridan agreed. Mr. Bonneville then suggested we go back to the Chairman's
idea of taking these applications home, studying them, putting them in
order as to how we would like to vote. The secretary was asked to get
together any new applications before next Wednesday for review before
selection. A discussion was held as to how many applicants should be
interviewed and Mr. Sheridan said the Committee will not be able to
interview all applicants; that the Committee should put their choices in
sequence and then determine the number to be interviewed. He stated we
could not possibly do all this by Wednesday and suggested a memo be sent
to Council stating we cannot possibly have this concluded in time. The
Committee again discussed the number to be presented and the number to
be interviewed, especially for qualifications. The secretary was asked
to put together a packet of any new applicants that come in by Tuesday.
The Committee agreed to meet Wednesday, March 2nd at 9:30 a.m.. Mr.
Sheridan said p~rhaps by Council's March 21st meeting we may have enough
together to satisfy everyone. The secretary was asked the date'this should
be in for Council's March 21st meeting and she answered the Wednesday
before Council meets is always the deadline for Agenda items. The
secretary was also asked to type up the guidelines to be followed for
interviews. Mr. Sheridan asked the Committee's opinion as to time to be
spent on each interview and the Committee agreed some individuals with
long resumes may take longer than others and Mr. Trickey suggested we
set a time for each individual, one-half hour each, giving a little time
perhaps between interviews for discussion.
There being no further business before the Committee, Mr. Hoffart moved
the meeting adjourn, seconded by Mr. Trickey. The meeting adjourned at
11:28 a.m.
Respectfully submitted by
Dorothy C. Garrity, Secretary
.
Screening Committee Minutes
of February 24, 1988 Meeting.
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