Candidates for the city manager position responded to an application brochure put together by consulting firm Strategic Government Resources. The City Commission then selected seven semi-finalists, six of whom became finalists, who submitted resumes with cover letters and responded to a 19-point questionnaire. Redacted versions of the full responses and the brochure can be found here. Below are selections from the responses.
Commissioners said choosing the next city manager will be among the most important decisions they make and public input is essential in the process. The city will host a public meet-and-greet with the finalist in mid January and decide on a new manager at a following commission meeting.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
Communication skills.
Problem solving. Ability to format an organization for maximum effectiveness. Ability to adapt and learn. Ability to act as a change agent and to embrace change. Commitment to customer service. Personnel development. Budget management. Knowledge of technology and the ability to incorporate it into operations for maximum effectiveness. Accountability for myself and for my team.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
Over the past 25 years, I have worked closely with the Plant City Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Merchants Association, and now Plant City Main Street, on a variety of programs, events, initiatives and common interests.
I was also instrumental in re-establishing Plant City’s Main Street program beginning in 2015, and I serve as the City’s liaison to Main Street through that agency's executive director and board of directors.
I also enjoy an excellent working relationship with the executive director of the East Hillsborough Historical Society, who also serves as chair of the City's Historical Resources Board.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual Florida Strawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
I have been directly involved in the various aspects of the City of Plant City's support of the Florida Strawberry Festival and all of the other events listed above. I am intimately familiar with all of the services that the City provides and must deliver to make the Florida Strawberry Festival and other listed activities successful.
I have also been directly involved in the City's support of numerous downtown events and activities, to include Bike Fest, Car Show, Fresh Air Market, Empty Bowls, Rail Fest, etc.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
The ability to communicate goals and expectations throughout the organization. My past success show the ability to set goals and work with stakeholders to achieve those goals.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
I have implemented two Community Redevelopment Agencies to assist with redevelopment. At Orange City we partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to institute a business retention program and created an administrative process for implementing an economic incentive program to encourage growth in targeted areas. We also worked closely with the County Economic Development Department to assist existing businesses with incentives to encourage growth. I have also worked on streamlining the planning and development process to allow projects to move through the system more quickly which helped the City become a location of choice. In Orange City we reformed the Historic Preservation Board and revised our land development and zoning codes to help preserve the historic nature of certain districts/areas within the City.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual Florida Strawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
I have worked in a number of communities that have worked to leverage their tourism activities for the betterment of the community. In Orange City, the Blue Spring Manatee Festival draws approximately 8,000 attendees annually. The City was working on ways to position itself as an eco-tourism destination by expanding the Festival and working to link the City with Blue Spring State Park and the River to Sea Trail.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
My greatest strength as a leader is being open minded and receptive to new ideas. I think in local government management its easy to set in our ways. I am always looking for the newest and latest ideas on solving a problem and having conversations with employees about these ideas.
My greatest strength as a manager is what I am not. I am not a micro-manager. If I give direction and let staff do their job many times they surpass my expectations. If I haven’t given adequate directions and staff doesn’t meet expectations that is on me. As a manager, I am fair and consistent. I know people need to know that the rules are applied equitable and to everyone the same.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
During my time in Auburndale, the City was in the process of completing the downtown streetscape project. This not only included pavers in the sidewalk but also rerouting streets and adding billing collection boxes which the community really appreciated. You have to remember this was the mid to late 1990’s. The City of Auburndale also owned the historic Baynard House which was renovated with state and city funding and local contributions and volunteers.
In Frostproof, the City did streetscapes on its downtown streets including street lighting and benches.
In Panama City, we are in negotiations with a developer to redevelop the Downtown Marina to spur redevelopment of Downtown.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual Florida Strawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
While in Auburndale we built a five-field softball complex that was utilized about 30 weekends a year with tournaments. This was an economic generator for the Auburndale/Winter Haven/Lakeland area especially when weeklong tournaments were held.
In Frostproof, we constructed a three-field baseball complex. While we were a satellite site for tournaments, the economic impact was felt by the local businesses during those tournaments.
In Panama City, we have spill over from Spring Break at Panama City Beach. In addition, partner with the PCB to host baseball, softball, and soccer tournaments. The city’s restaurants and hotels see increase business during these times. The 2500 seat Marina Civic Center hosts numerous concerts, traveling Broadway, and other events during the year. These events have a significant impact to the downtown economy on show nights. During the month of June, the Civic Center host dance competitions. Dance Teams from across the United States come for the week to compete. Approximately 20,000 participants and vendors not including parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters and other family fill the city’s hotels and restaurants.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
I believe that my greatest strength as a leader is my ability to motivate and encourage employees to work collectively as a team and one cohesive unit. As a leader, it is essential to maintain the position of a servant leader, and to lead by actions not words. I believe that the collective sum is greater than the individual parts, and as a city manager one serves in a capacity similar to that of a "head coach". A city manager should inspire, motivate, educate and appreciate the organization's most valuable resource, its workforce, while also maintaining an open, honest and transparent relationship with both the elected officials and the public. As a leader, I pride myself on the ability to connect with all individuals regardless of differences, and I value every member of the team as a vital contributing member to the overall collective success of the organization. Having played team sports, I firmly believe that teamwork makes the dream work. I have been known to take employees out to breakfast, speak at civic associations, and host employee picnics and luncheons. As a leader, it is always important to exude humility and honesty; these attributes allow me to communicate and effectively forge long-lasting relationships with those I work with and work for.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
During my tenure as a city manager in both Haines City and Riviera Beach, I was a proponent for the creation of a downtown incubator program, with the intention of attracting local investment into the downtown corridor. One of the most important aspects of downtown re-development is ensuring that the appropriate government infrastructures are in place to facilitate growth and development. In order to have a flourishing downtown, communities must review their densities and intensities and land-uses and proffer potential density bonuses and joint use parking arrangements to facilitate commerce; both are items I have successfully negotiated during my tenure in government. In Haines City, we invested in the improvement of drainage infrastructure, as well as adding an additional 124 parking spaces to the downtown core. Furthermore, we forged additional relationships with area businesses and supported the initiatives of purchasing items locally. I spearheaded an effort that led to the disposition of an unutilized city asset that was ultimately redeveloped into an indigent healthcare clinic. As part of the development, we utilized funding within our CRA fund to make surgical investments in transportation infrastructure to assist in allowing for better ingress and egress. To mitigate the impact of the increased traffic on residents in the area, we improved the landscape buffers as well as added new streetscape. During my tenure as City Manager in Haines City, I was successful in redeveloping a portion of the downtown core to construct a brand-new $2.1 million fire station. This particular facility was also highly controversial and contested by multiple stakeholders. We were able to build the facility that mimics the local charm of the downtown area while providing a state-of-the-art facility, which provides critical life safety services to our residents. Additionally, we were able to institute a policy that created a local vendor preference ordinance. This allowed for more commerce in investments to occur from the city supporting the local area investment. Economic development and "smart growth" are essential to long-term growth and sustainability. During my tenure at multiple agencies, I have assisted in property acquisition, property disposition, and the negotiation of economic development opportunities. My experience in marketing and communications allowed for us to create a community branding initiative that encouraged people to experience our downtown businesses; we also established a farmer's market to encourage additional activity in the downtown core. Lastly, we were able to work with local lending institutions to provide facade grants to ensure historical preservation occurred within the downtown corridor. Historic downtowns provide a sense of place and a sense of being. With the right businesses and support from the city, the synergy necessary to have a vibrant and bustling downtown can occur. I possess copious amounts of ideas and solutions that can create a sense of place and preserve the quaintness, as well as promote activities necessary to stimulate smart growth.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual FloridaStrawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
Having worked in the fields of Parks and Recreation, communications and marketing, I have a very vast knowledge and experience on event planning. I have managed specific events intended to garner an economic impact, as well as catapult the community on a regional, state and nationwide stage. While working for the Town of Celebration, I coordinated movie premieres with artists such as Jim Belushi and NBA legend Grant Hill. This experience gave me a deep understanding of the intricacies and nuances associated with promotions, marketing, and event execution. By serving in multiple capacities in Parks and Recreation, I also have a proper understanding of events and programs intended to gamer community support and synergy. During my tenure in Haines City, we were successful in breaking a Guinness Book of World Record, which assisted us in receiving regional media attention. It is important to work with community partners such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Council, both of which I have been successful in forging long-standing relationships and partnerships together with the agencies that I have worked with in the past. Their input and insights are vital to ensure a successful event. I have attended the Strawberry Festival before, and I am very familiar with the region. I believe that I can certainly be an asset in advocating for commerce in tourism for Plant City. These types of events are important as they are events intended to highlight the quality of life in the community. Because of the existing strategic partnership and the commitment from the city, I am confident that collectively we will be able to elevate our prominence in the state and be the premier event community that others will be envious of.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
When serving in a leadership or managerial role, I feel my greatest strengths are my abilities to think strategically, build relationships, influence actions and execute organized plans. In order to achieve goals, a leader must have the ability to develop strategy. I begin the strategy development process by assessing strengths and weaknesses and determining how to best deploy strengths while compensating for weaknesses. In building relationships, I focus on connecting common interests that can be leveraged to inspire individuals toward a common goal. I do not view leadership as a position but, instead, as an attitude and a capacity to influence others. Through transparent communication, an authentic leader can influence organizational culture by acting ethically on behalf of common interests and by creating an environment of trust. Finally, a leader must be able to execute a well-organized plan. As a leader, I sponsor each strategically developed plan throughout each process and to completion. To ensure effective and efficient execution, I lead by providing clear and methodical direction, I set deadlines, I provide feedback to team members and I quickly resolve conflict to encourage organizational unity.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
Downtown redevelopment is thriving in lakeland. A recent and notable redevelopment project was led by the City's Community Development Department and Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). Mass Market is a new event space in downtown lakeland that can accommodate up to 1,000 guests, includes a state of the art commercial kitchen, has an urban farm cultivated by a local school, and contains shared office space for creatives. This redeveloped location also hosts a trendy art studio and gallery space that can accommodate up to 100 people for an exhibit. All of this has been redeveloped on two-thirds of a city block that was severely blighted following abandonment by homeowners, small businesses and real estate investors. This 1.6-acre site had become a trash strewn area that created a barrier between Lakeland's downtown and midtown commercial districts. The CRA, acting as developer, acquired the property for $2 million and spent another $3.2 million on construction of the Mass Market. Following this redevelopment project, three more properties on Massachusetts Avenue applied for and received design assistance grants and facade improvement grants. There is a sense among area property owners that the corridor has emerged from a time of disinvestment to one of renewal and growth. Not all redevelopment projects need be as large and capital intensive as this one. However, the willingness to take strategic risks with CRA funds to redevelop an abandoned and blighted area which had no private investment interests has proven successful.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual Florida Strawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
The City of lakeland has several premier tourism events that positively impact the regional economy each year. During 2017, the City completed a $48 million renovation to Joker Marchant Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers baseball spring-training operations since 1934 and home of their minor-league baseball affiliate, the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Cooperative funding from the City, County, State and the Detroit Tigers was leveraged to fund the renovation project. Each year, Tigers spring-training brings an estimated $45 million baseball-driven dollars to the local economy with an additional $18 million generated during the Flying Tigers minor-league season.
The City of lakeland also owns and operates lakeland Linder Regional Airport, home of the annual Sun-n-Fun fly-in and expo. This annual event is the second largest of its kind, in the world, and is the largest annual convention in Florida. The six-day event draws visitors from 80 countries and has an estimated $64 million annual economic impact on the 1-4 corridor.
While serving as the City of Auburndale Community Development Director, I prepared and presented to the City Commission an opinion of value and negotiated the purchase of a planned 88-acre residential subdivision for $6.6 million. This purchase led to the development of the Lake Myrtle Sports Park, a 250-acre park consisting of 11 soccer/multiuse fields, 9 collegiate baseball fields, a multiuse trail, a dog park and various amenities. lake Myrtle Sports Park is the headquarters of the Florida Youth Soccer Association, RussMatt Collegiate Baseball Invitational and the Polk County Sports Marketing/Tourism organization. An average of 190 events are hosted at the park annually, generating an estimated annual economic impact of $46.5 million for the local economy. To successfully fund and develop this opportunity in a small city with a population of only 14,000, I had to leverage partnerships with the County, several athletic associations and tourism organizations. This strategy has proven successful and the community not only benefits from the economic impact but also has use of this park for community events and recreational activities.
What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a leader and manager?
I have been successful in creating work environments that are team oriented, collaborative, inclusive and ethics based. I am open accessible and a good listener. I welcome feedback and differing points of view. I also have a sense of humor, which I believe is important to have in a healthy work environment.
Describe your experience and successes in downtown redevelopment, and include specifically (as applicable), any projects involving historic preservation elements.
The three jurisdictions I worked in with downtowns included Miami Beach, Fl, Wheat Ridge, CO, and Watertown, CT. In Miami Beach one of my assigned projects was to resolve a sizable list of outstanding liens on commercial properties that had accumulated over time from fines imposed for code violations. Many of the liens were in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and several in the millions of dollars. Our approach was to attempt to resolve the liens by getting the owners to make improvements to their properties rather to foreclose on the liens. The City did not want to be in the real estate business. The process spanned several years and was a building by building negotiation with each owner to address the building conditions. My leverage was the value of the lien on a property, which I would typically negotiate to a smaller amount in exchange for specific improvements to bring the building up to code. In all cases I was successful in getting building exteriors and in many cases interiors improved. Several of these commercial buildings were located in the historic art deco district of the City.
In Wheat Ridge, we created what was a fairly typical main street program to improve public infrastructure and building facades. We also created a program to improve some run down hotels on our interstate highway that provided both loans and grants to properties to assist in their improvement.
In Watertown, I worked on the renovation of an abandoned manufacturing facility in the downtown. The building was a multi-story brick structure dating back to the early 1900's. The building was renovated for office and retail uses.
Plant City enjoys a large influx of tourists and visitors due to the Annual Florida Strawberry Festival, the International Softball Federation, and annual winter visitors. Describe your experience in working in communities that experience significant tourism events, including any strategies and/or initiatives you have utilized to leverage tourism activities for the overall betterment of your community.
In both James City County, VA, and Miami Beach, Fl, I had experience with tourism events. In Miami Beach there were a number of very large events that occurred annually as well as very large special events. The City annually hosted the largest boat show as well as the largest contemporary art show in the country. Special events included hosting multiple Super Bowls, the College Football National Championship game, the Pro Bowl and large concerts. To manage these different events the City created a special events plan based on the EOC emergency response plan. Typically all departments played a role and for the larger events a command center was staffed 24/7 for the duration of the event to provide coordination and to respond to any unforeseen or emergency needs. The plan provided for the coordination of all aspects of the event ranging from crowd management and security to litter control to assure that visitors and residents enjoyed their experience.
In James City, the region is a tourism destination that undertakes a coordinated marketing program to attract visitors. Part of the marketing effort has been to build on the destination appeal through the creation of seasonal offerings and promotions. The regional tourism partners collaborated to offer special Christmas time programs as well as Halloween programs. Beyond those activities the County also worked to attract youth sports tournaments particularly in the shoulder seasons when the attractions might not be open or not yet drawing peak period crowds. Sports tourism is a defined element in the County economic development plan and we were successful in attracting special events (for example iron man competitions) to enhance that revenue stream. One event that the County was instrumental in attracting was an lPGA annual tournament in one of our local resorts. This event has been very successful and as part of the negotiation, the County was able to integrate the tournament and the players into a weeks' worth of community based events. Players provided clinics and programming was provided in the schools. The event has also been used to help with business recruitment and as an acknowledgement for existing local businesses.