City Manager – 2025

[Chuck Mitchell]

2025 City Manager Search

[Chuck Mitchell]

Mayor – I sent you an email on August 25, 2025, asking if Council had received all resumes submitted to the open City Manager Position. You informed me that we had in fact received them all except for a few that came in after we interviewed Gant & Ybarra (July 28, 2025). Before I sent you that email, I received a call from a friend of mine that is employed at a local police department asking me where we were in making a selection for City Manager. As it turns out, he submitted his resume through TML on May 5th, but we as council never received it from you. Makes me wonder if there were others not presented…

[Johnny Hill]

Chuck,

As I recall, we all asked the Mayor to pre-screen the applications received to eliminate any obviously unqualified applicants and help save us some time. I trusted his opinion (and still do) based on his long time knowledge of what the job requirements are. With that being said, now that we are still on the hunt for an acceptable candidate, I am sure that David will be willing to pass on any of the applicants that he initially screened out.

Also, I would like to see Mayor Pro-Tem Ramos’ list of qualification requirements for the job, since she stated that financial and accounting background or experience was not really needed for the position. I think it would be great for her to post that on this forum, along with her expectation of salary for the position.

Respectfully

[Johnny Hill]

Council,

Please post your thoughts on the requirements for a job description and the posting for the city manager position. We can discuss it here and maybe get this settled prior to the next council meeting on Sept. 22nd. My thoughts are as follows with my preference and priority starting top down :

1. Prior successful experience as a city manager or Mayor of a “Strong Mayor-Council” type city government.

2. Strong background in accounting or Business Management (successful P&L responsibility). I don’t think we necessarily need an accounting or finance professional, but a demonstrated ability to manage a budget with the background and experience to know that requirements and deadlines are being met.

3. someone with good people skills and the ability to communicate well with the citizens of Shoreacres.

4. If one of the candidates has the ability to be tasked as “Head of the Police Dept.” , I would consider that a plus if all other factors are equal.

[Paul Greeson]

Johnny,
I agree with looking for a City Manager with prior experience as city manager but we may need to go to plan B to look at someone like an experienced project manager with proven projects P&L budget experience.This could maybe allow us to choose someone from a larger group of personnel that would fit our budget. The other thing is without a budget for capitol improvement we will be looking at mainly budget control, contract management, personnel management and emergency repairs. Experience with developing grants would be a good asset but we will probably not qualify for most.

These are just my thoughts, We could go with the experience city manager with a salary range and see what resumes we get before going to plan B. What do you think is the best route for us?

Normal duties for a Project Manager are as follows but not limited to:

Management: Proven experience in managing project scope, schedule and P&L budget. Guiding and motivating directing project staff.

Experience in Developing Scope for Contracts and Contracts Negotiations: Excellent verbal and written communication skills for interacting with various contract bidders and local city representatives.

Experience in Rules for Sealed Bidding Contracts: Experience interacting with various bidders and clients for contract award. 

Problem-Solving: The ability to identify and resolve complex issues that arise during a project. 

Organization: Strong organizational skills to manage multiple tasks and project details.
 
Adaptability: Flexibility to handle changes in project scope, schedule, or resources. 

Flexibility to handle changes in project scope, schedule, or resources. 

[Wes Bell]

Johnny
I absolutely agree with your requirements for a new City Manager.

Especially important is:

#1 Previous job experience in this position…absolutely!

and

#3 The ability to communicate with the Mayor, City Council and city employees.

Thank you

[Johnny Hill]

Gentlemen,

All good points.

Paul,
A well experienced Project Manager who has experience with managing large (2million plus) projects would have the experience that I am talking about in my second requirement. I definitely think we should immediately open up applications to that type of person as well.

I understand that Felicia is crafting the job posting. Maybe she will post what she has so far on here so that we can get dialogue going and maybe have a job posting ready before our meeting on the 22nd.

[Paul Greeson]

Johnny,
I think we all need to review the job posting before sending out including the salary range.I think it could be posted here to comment to expedite issue. Felicia are you going to send out the job posting when its corrected? We need to revise the city manager contract as well. Items such as Termination or severance should be tied to number of years of service i.e. one week pay for each year of continuous service if at all. As for the insurance provided it needs to be same as all other employees. The contract should be beneficial to the city. Additionally there needs be a probation period to insure he/she fits in our city. No matter how good you interview and check references sometime people just don’t fit in.
We need to put the contract on the next agenda for review and comment, revise, then clear with legal.

[Johnny Hill]

Paul,

I agree.

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