Good afternoon and welcome to the special commission meeting for June 24th, 2025. I'd like to call this meeting to order. Now, if we could please stand for the pledge of the alleg pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. City clerk, would you please call roll? Commissioner Clark, here. Vice Mayor Basquez, here. Commissioner Dicki here.
Mayor Doctor here. Thank you. All right, we're going to start off with public comments and I have one card. Mark Hoey. That's it. That's it. Listen, I won't hold you up for what
will be a very important uh discussion that you're going to have. I just want to look ahead uh to the next meeting uh because then by at that point hopefully we're in full speed ahead and I want to have those three key things that need to
be talked about. Um solid waste outsourcing. I understand there's been some progress made in looking through that. Uh certainly the terrain modification manual and trying to to uh negate the negative impacts of that. And
then finally a uh maybe hopefully come to Jesus meeting about the uh public safety building and what to do with police and fire. So just looking ahead to that. I I know those will probably be topics that you all have as well. But
good luck today. Great. Thank you, Mark. And I will close the section for public uh comments and we'll get into uh items of business. The first item of business, appointment of a short-term city manager.
Hi, good afternoon. So, just to give and provide a little bit of background on this, we did post for the temporary city manager position that closed on June 13th. There were four candidates who were chosen to move forward. Howard Brown, Charles Vanzant, Michael
Brillhart, and Taylor Brown. All of you were had an opportunity to interview with them. uh to ask questions, get to know their background, their experience, and we are here today to make an appointment. So, I'm going to let you take the floor and begin your
discussion. All right. Thank you very much. So, does uh anybody want to start um with the uh are we going to just go through the four candidates? How would I We can open this up any way
we'd like to do. So, it's just free speech at this point. I rather than go through all four candidates, I'd just like to each of us to say who our maybe top two top one or two are and then we'll go from there maybe. I would agree with that. All right. Uh we'll go from
here down. Sure. Absolutely. Thank you. My top candidate is Charlie Vanzant and my second candidate would be Taylor Brown. And mine would be um Howard Brown and Charles Vanzant.
And I would have Howard Brown and Charles Vanzant. Wow. I've got Taylor Brown as my first choice and Char Charles Vanzant as my second. Oh, we all agree on one. We something we
have something in common. Uh and I think that uh does anybody want to discuss why the candidates or do we just want to move forward? I'd love to talk about Taylor Brown a bit. Uh he was one of the finalist uh when we uh had the position
open 10 months ago. Uh I I was impressed with him then. I was able to catch up with them uh on Friday and talk with them for about an hour. Uh I was uh first of all, he's out of all the candidates that we're we're looking at, he's got the most he he's come closest
to meeting the qualifications that we've uh set out there. He's got 15 years of uh city manager experience in the state of Florida. Uh he's got economic development experience both in his current job and further back in his uh his background. Uh but the thing I was
most impressed with on my hourlong conversation with him the other day is he he has uh genuinely been interested in Treasure Island. Ever since he's left, he continues way up there in Perry, Florida, continues to watch our commission meetings. Uh he knew I was
just blown away with how much he knew about what was going on here, what the major issues were, who the main major players are. uh and uh he's he's you know for him to have kept that kind of involvement uh even with there no prospects of him being involved in this
was was very impressive. But he he's very solid like I said he's the only one with with that checks all the boxes that has all that level of experience and uh he's somebody that can and he's and he's ready and available. He's interested in
both the shortterm uh and the long-term position. And so if we get him in here, uh we could have an opportunity to watch him perform, see how he does, and see if he's he's our uh choice for the the long-term position as well. All right.
Um yeah, I mean, I I I Charlie is really the guy that stood out to me. Um I think his military service is absolutely impeccable. Um, I think that, um, when you start to look at some
of the things he's managed as far as, you know, 400 million million dollar budget with 5,000 employees, um, you know, cutting cutting things out of their budget. Um, and to be honest with you, the other thing I think is his
is his, you know, relationship he's always had with like the police and the fire. I honestly believe that if we have another disaster of some sort, be it a hurricane or whatever, I think he would be the absolute best guy to have in this role.
Um, uh, out of all of the candidates. And I think after what we've gone through, I think that's a really important thing. Um, and yeah, I I don't Yeah. So, I'm going to stop there.
I would say and and I agree on um Charles Vanzant, his uh military career um in leadership and in um emergency situations. I mean, he has definitely more experience with that aspect, even
though it's not necessarily as a city manager. His his experience in emergency response is huge. I would also say with Howard Brown, um I feel like he too has a lot of experience in that more in a
city manager um aspect. Um both of them I'll be honest again, I don't think we could go wrong with either one of them. Um I definitely think leadership is the number one thing we need right now and I think it can really bring our city together and I truly feel that either
one of them um could do a wonderful job. Um, you know, Howard Brown does have the experience in um development in responsible development um that he's done down in South Florida. Um, again, I
I really was impressed and liked both of them. Um, to me, that's who it came down to. I truly don't think we could go wrong with either one. And as you mentioned, um, both of them when we talked to or when I talked to them, I can speak for myself, obviously applied
for the short term, but both of them said, um, for different reasons that they would be also interested in possible long-term if they were here and, you know, we were happy with the job they did and we wanted to offer them a longer longer contract that they
definitely would consider that. So, that was something I think was pretty much across the board, at least when I interviewed, the feeling that I got um was if if we're happy with them and they're happy here, they'd be happy to stay. But again, I I Charles Vanzant
100%. I mean, his leadership, I I have no no doubt that and quite frankly, I believe it's what our city needs. Um I think he could bring it together, but again, I I'm open to both. I think either one would be a absolutely
fabulous choice. Great. Thank you. Yeah, I think that uh we came up with four candidates and I think all were good candidates. Um I think that Howard Brown and Charles Vanzant were great candidates. Um and the reason I say that
is that it is all about leadership. That is what we need. I mean they have the experience, they have the background, they came different directions. you know, Howard uh came up through uh a municipal um and he basically was doing
community development. Uh he was doing code enforcement. Uh he was doing planning. Um so I mean he very strong um candidate if if you're looking for that type of candidate and I think that we need some of those skills. But uh
Charles Vanzant um had a very unique background, military um also was a school superintendent uh for six years and uh and the leadership uh abilities and some of the things that he talked about in the interviews um
talking about parents, talking about safety for you know the the children and the community. And um I think that we uh we really have a strong leader in in Charles and uh and that's why uh you know I I I could feel comfortable with
either candidate and um so I think that with that being said um does anybody want to change any anything in their candidate structure? Um so can I can I make one more comment? I I also
I just really like the fact that he came down here and spent the weekend. I believe he met with some or all of you. I know he I know he mentioned that he had he met with me, came over to my house, sat down at the table and we talked for quite some time and met my wife and all of that. So I I really like
that. Um yeah, so and I would agree with that. He um and he made mention to me that his wife said they hadn't been down there if I recall. I think it was 2016. He said they hadn't been down here and his wife said, "If we're going to consider moving there, I at least want
to go check the place out." So, it was really nice that they came down. Um, he took the time to meet with all of us, but actually came down just to see if Treasure Island was a place that they would possibly want to live if if it worked out um long term. And um they
loved it. So, I was also glad to actually sit eye to eye and meet with him. Not that that was a necessity, but it was nice to be able to do. Let let me comment on that. He did reach out to me and ask to meet with me as well, and he had said that he had met with you, and I just felt that because I didn't have the
opportunity to meet with the other candidates face to face. I thought that would give him an unfair advantage. Uh so I I politely declined that uh that meeting uh for that reason. Just I didn't want him to be able to do to do that. I understand perfectly him wanting
to come down here especially because of his wife uh wanted to see what they were getting into. So I understand that completely. Uh but I I just felt it would have given him an unfair advantage and and I think you know with the benefit of what I'm hearing clearly it did give him honestly he was my he was
my choice before I ever met with him and that's just I can't speak for anybody else but that was just a a nice you know little bonus was being able to meet him face to face but no he was already it was already my they were my top two um
before I ever met with him. It was just nice again just nice to kind of meet face to face but I understand what you're saying. Uh and then and then just one other comment on Taylor Brown too because I my uh uh comments earlier he does have lots of hurricane experience too. He he dealt
with hurricane Adalia uh three years ago when that came through and when uh hurricane uh Helen came here and messed us up. The landfall was was right uh right where he lives. So, he's he's uh dealt he has a lot of hurricane
experience and uh and and probably much worse than what we went through here in Treasure Island. So, like I said, he checked all the boxes. I I do like uh Charlie. Uh I I all the reasons that I heard from you. I mean, the fact that he could go from that military experience
and become a uh superintendent of schools uh in Klay County is impressive. I mean, that's a And he did that job for I believe four or five years. So it wasn't like he he just did it for a year or something. So uh that was completely out of any other than he was a school
board member uh there. So he did have that experience, but that was uh you that's a big job and and to uh and to make that kind of adjustment uh uh without any experience. So uh we just need to realize that he doesn't have a
lot of the stuff that we thought we we wanted to have. Otherwise, he's, you know, he he is impressive and he did make a very good impression in my uh Zoom call with him and uh and reviewing his background. And I would say on that, no, I'm sorry not to No, go ahead. Um
with Taylor Brown, I very very nice man. Don't I absolutely don't question his experience. I just didn't feel he had the leadership um he didn't have the same leadership
qualities that I think our city needs right now. Um and I think that was that was the big thing for me is we just we need a very strong leadership to bring everyone back together. And that was quite honestly I I couldn't agree with
you more. He has you know his his resume speaks for itself. I just didn't feel, you know, there's a right person at the right time for everywhere. And I definitely just I did not feel that he that was my only thing with him. Didn't quite bring as much of the leadership
role as the other two did. And that was that was my only opinion on that. I I was just going to say Charlie was on every one of our lists. So agree. I think we should move forward and then go hit the beach. Okay. So, what we need to do is we we
need to uh see if we can uh easily uh Yes. Why don't we do that? Make let's make a motion. Um, I move to select Charles Vanzant to serve as city manager pending contract approval and resolution of appointment to be considered at July
1st, 2025 regular meeting and select the mayor to lead salary negotiations and other contractual agreements. Do we have a second? We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Yeah, I came to this meeting prepared
for either one of those candidates for Taylor Brown or for uh Charles uh and I said to myself if it came to 3 to one with I with me being the one because I know this needs four votes. I'm not going to hold this up. Uh because it's
not Taylor Brown. So, uh if if it uh if it's a 3-1, we'll go ahead and make it a four. Uh I know we haven't taken the roll call yet, but okay. That's what it appears to be. All right. Thank you. All right, let's uh have a roll call, please. Vice Mayor Bazquez, I.
Commissioner Clark, I. Commissioner Dicki, I. Mayor Doctor I. Thank you. Unanimous. I It was Yes. Yay. Yes. Congratulations to Charles. Charlie. Yeah. We be done. Okay. So, we only have
one other item here and that is the severance agreement with Charles Anderson. Actually, can I address one thing before we go there, which is uh regarding SGR? So, just some direction regarding the full-time permanent position because I know that at the last
meeting it was discussed uh to maybe forego that and do the temporary into a direct hire for permanent. So, what is your direction regarding SGR? Are we going to post the position and continue on that that path where they would this
person charie would also apply through SGR and we would go through the hiring process that way or would you prefer not to? No, I I I think that uh that is what we had agreed upon previously in a meeting. So yes, let's continue the
search with SGR. All right. Thank you very much. Yeah. Can I just say I mean if if for some reason it could go both ways, right? Charlie comes in and does terrible. Charlie comes in and does amazing. I mean, at some point, if if the guy's doing amazing, do we really need to would we I guess it was will
there be any leniency as far as we would go through this then still go through the entire process? You know, that's going to be my question because I mean, like I said, it could go either way. Maybe we have to bump up the search because we made a horrible decision. I don't think that's going to happen. But it could go the other way where the guy
comes in and makes immediate impact and we're like, Jesus, we can't let this guy go. Then are we really going to go through some huge search? And I I I I wasn't here for all the last one, but I heard it was just like super long and like the public came in and the and I
mean, and Mr. Brown, Taylor Brown, made it sound like I mean, it was like a quite the process. So, I'm just trying to figure out I guess it's our high hire so we could decide, but you know, I just wanted to throw that out there. No, I I I agree with you. It's uh you know,
we're looking for a permanent and it's not to say he can't be the permanent or even the other three could get back in with SG. Um, mayor mayor, uh, could I suggest something here, too? That, uh, I like
the idea of allowing, uh, Charles to have a probationary period, for lack of a better term, before we aggressively start looking for another candidate. I would agree. Uh, if if we if if maybe a month or two into it. Uh now I do
realize that we could pursue the search without any additional cost to the city uh as far as but we put put it out there. So I guess what I'm saying is is if if he's the if he's doing good for two or three months, we can save
ourselves a lot of a lot of trouble and not have to go through this because in a perfect world we're one and done. Actually though I'm not sure if we have if we have that window available to us. So we the way the statement of work and the and the scope and the um uh
what SGR provided to us the proposal uh we had one year and that one year will expire on August 1 and even though we have not had uh Chuck in this position he I'm still I'm I'm not sure
if we go past that August 1 date if those if the if it still applies that we would not have to then pay the the professional fees as well. So, I can check into that. My concern is is that if we start the process with SGR and
then we decide to change route in the middle, it's it's extraordinarily disruptive. Um, so now you've got candidates who have put their names in. Um, if we go through SGR, then we get a fully robust background. We get more
information. and we we go through this the entire process as we had planned to do from the beginning. So, I can appreciate wanting to go not go through that whole process, but I think that there are probably ways that we can make it not so long of a process as it was
last time. However, um I'm just concerned that we may lose that opportunity with SGR if we wait. Two questions. Um it was going to go beyond August anyway, right? because we said it was going to take six months supposedly to get this done. So, but we would have
started the search prior to Okay. Well, maybe we can make a decision by August August 1. I I disagree with you, Ardan, with what you said with the kind of the probation period, not have to go through the whole process. I mean, John's John's point was we had four good
candidates and two excellent candidates. So, that's what you said earlier. So if two of them are excellent, hopefully one of them is excellent enough to work out. Um agree. Yeah. I just I just think that I think what we need more than anything is just to start plowing forward and and
and I think this has been one of our biggest hurdles. And I think I think I don't want to get too off track, but I think if we could get through this and then we can finally get through whatever happens with the fire station, we can we'll all be I think moving forward and
agree on a lot of things and hopefully start to get stuff done. And I would agree with that. I think I think a huge drawn out search is just going to going to just muck up the whole process again. So I I don't know how we do it, but again, I think this is our hire up here,
right? So, we can decide what we want to do. So, I mean, I just want to make sure that I point that out and and I would kind of take off of that from what um what you said. I uh I think with between the hurricanes um everything the city's
been through, the turnovers, everything else. I think um and I 100% get where you're coming from because it's at no and that was kind of the original. So, I do understand that. But then on the other side, it's I think having the
stability um the the potential stability of having it's like I'm almost willing to risk it even though after August 1st, you know, it's no longer free of charge, which we were still going to have to pay for transportation and things like that. Correct. It wasn't. The bulk of the fees
though were the professional fees and we get right. So, which I get. But I think again just an opinion I think having the stability and the residents feeling like we have the confidence in the person that we've
chosen um that person knowing the staff feeling like we truly had the confidence in that person. I just feel like that goes a long way. Um and that's again that's just my my feeling on it. Um, I and I
100% agree. I think if we can get past this, I think we really can start moving forward, which is what our city needs. And that's that's my opinion. And I also don't see why we couldn't get a bunch of names together and keep the search going until at least August 1st. I I I guess
stopping it. I What are they going to do? Get mad at us? I mean, I don't I I don't Are we gonna We're not going to have any contractual thing that we broke, right? I mean, I I just I don't I don't know. You're right. Let me just say the one thing that uh and I'm going to say, you know, why I
went for uh Charles Van or Vanzant and um you know that uh he was a school superintendent from 2012 to 2016. Um he oversaw 37,000 students which I
think you had mentioned earlier. Um, and uh, he had a budget. I don't have the budget right. Uh, yeah, I do. 400 million dollar budget. Um, and I mean, he showed me some of the um,
show we talked about uh, when he was here that uh, the things that were taking place in a school district and u, you know, the the maintenance, the capital spending and and everything else. Um, and he's on top of his game.
Uh, there's no doubt about it. Has multiple degrees and, uh, military experience. So, um, I I think that maybe we've got the right guy. Okay. But, uh, it does make it kind of difficult where we are right now with SGR. I agree with you. And that was just something that I
wanted to point out so you all could make the decision. And so, I would have clear direction if I'm advising SGR to stand down at this time. and we're going to put it on pause knowing that we've got a short window of time in which to start, you know, begin conducting that
search if we choose to. I I mean, my opinion is we pause it. Yeah, me too. I think we pause it. I agree. And I think that pausing it probably means that that we're not going to meet that deadline in August 1st. So,
all right. Um, so the next step then is that the one thing that would have occurred at a much deeper dive would be the background check. So I will do that to the best of my ability. Um, I may actually still reach out to SGR uh with
the acting city manager's um approval to maybe conduct that background for us. They have a lot more resources than I do available to them. um there will be um a cost associated with that, but I don't believe it's extraordinarily high. Um and it's a cost we would have um
probably paid anyway had we um gone forward with using them. So, uh that is one thing that I would like to do because like I said, I just don't I don't have the availability of the resources that that SG does. I think that would be great. Okay. Y
thank you. Thank you. All right. And before we move on, I I uh hate to throw this on out there, but regarding uh the contract uh discussions and stuff like that, uh I'd like us to avoid uh for lack of a better term,
salary creep, if there's a strong tendency, I think, for uh every time we bring a new person, we have to pay them more than the old person. Uh we paid Chuck more than we paid Amy Davis and Amy Davis made more than the previous person. Uh I would uh hope that we could
bring somebody in for the same sal in the same salary range that Chuck was in. I know we're entrusting that that negotiation to you, but I just wanted to offer one commissioner's opinion on that. Great. Thank you. All right. With that, we will adjourn.
Don't we never did the one severance? Oh, one more item. That's right. Oh, I'm sorry. What do we need to do with the severance? I was thinking that we were. So now I can So now we're back in. There you go. Thank god you found that
hammer earlier. It was lost. At this time I'm going to need to defer to our attorney regarding the severance uh the next steps for that and uh then also because we're going to have to do them simultaneously. So it'll be the severance um of Chuck Anderson and then
as well as the contract for Charles Vanzant. Uh, you can move to approve the severance right now and have that executed and then you've given him direction to sign the contract. Um, you can literally probably call Mr. Vanzant today and um, we'll just take the old
contract and then amend it slightly. I mean, if it's the wish of the commission to keep it similar, substantially similar, we can get that whipped up today before 5:00. I'll be here all day. Um, and then shoot that to him. um have him put his notes back and then I'll
distribute it to you guys and then at the next meeting uh you can actually vote it in. Good. Okay, that sounds good. Sounds good. So then just for clarity as far as the severance. So we need to go ahead and extend that to that July 1st or
Yeah. then Yeah. So that would be Tuesday. So yeah, you can extend it to Tuesday. You can make that part of your motion. Approving the severance with a continu continuation date of July 1st or was that second? Yeah, first. All right. Are you guys good with that? The motion?
Yep. All right. Yep. I move to authorize the mayor to execute the severance agreement with Chuck Anderson through July 1st, 2025. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion
hearing? None. Roll, please. Vice Mayor Bazquez. I Commissioner Dicki. Hi. Commissioner Clark. Hi. Mayor Doctor Hi. Thank you. Is it possible that we can adjourn in less than 30 minutes? Unbelievable. It's
129.