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HomeMy Public PortalAbout06-June 23, 2021 WorkshopCITY OF OPA-LOCKA "The Great City" CLERK'S ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES Workshop Wednesday, June 23, 2021 5:30 p.m. 1. WELCOME/OPENING REMARKS: Mayor Matthew Pigatt called the Workshop to order at 5:37 PM on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. In his opening remarks, Mayor Pigatt stated that the workshop was scheduled to set the Commission's priorities. 2. ROLL CALL: The following members of the City Commission were present: Commissioner Alvin E. Burke, Commissioner John H. Taylor Jr., Vice Mayor Veronica J. Williams and Mayor Matthew A. Pigatt. Commissioner Chris Davis arrived at 5:40 PM. Also, in attendance were: City Manager John E. Pate, City Attorney Burnadette Norris -Weeks and City Clerk Joanna Flores. 3. INVOCATION: The invocation was delivered by Commissioner Taylor. 4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Agenda item(s) only Mayor Pigatt opened public comments and reminded members of the public that if they address the Commission, their comments must be concerning items on the Workshop Agenda. There being no members of the public to address the Commission, Mayor Pigatt closed Public Comments. 6. INTRODUCTION / WORKSHOP OVERVIEW: Mayor Pigatt reminded his colleagues on the Commission that they had a Workshop on April 12th to set their priorities. The Mayor pointed out that Section 5c of the City Manager's contract stipulates that the Commission and the Manager shall jointly define goals and performance objectives that may be necessary for the operation of the City and the attainment of the Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Commission's policies and objectives. He recalled that at the last Workshop, the Commission set 4 major priorities with specific tasks, and at today's Workshop the Manager will discuss how those work within the City's budget and how the objectives will be put together into a document as well as how they will be manifest in the City. City Manager Pate reminded the Commission that at the last Workshop, the Commission was running short on time and were not able to discuss beautification, the Human Resources Department and the Police Depaitiiient. The City Manager informed the Commission that each of those departments would provide their presentations and then Budget Director Anathan would provide direction on budgetary expectations. Mayor Pigatt asked if the Commission priorities can be broken down into specific objectives to be put into a plan that will be approved at the next Commission Meeting. City Manager Pate informed the Commission that the objective is to go over beautification, the Human Resource Department and the Police Depaitinent, then have Budget Administrator Anathan complete a budget projection at the 1st Budget Workshop which he said is scheduled for July 7th. The Manager also committed to drafting the priorities based on what was agreed upon and to make sure it is memorialized into a resolution. 7. DISCUSSION ITEMS: a) CITY COMMISSION PRIORITIES Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin informed the Commission that a city-wide initiative started last week to plant trees along Perviz Avenue as well as to trim the trees in the City's swales, so that it would not be a heavy lift when it is turned over to private residents and businesses that are adjacent to the swales. Mr. Austin added that his Depaitiiient intends to pressure clean some of the deteriorated sidewalks throughout the City. He offered to have Budget Administrator Bob Anathan expound on the Public Works Depai tiiient's efforts in a holistic way which he said would address the City's rundown houses, vacant lots as part of the Depaitnient's future goals. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to expound on the deep cleaning of the entire City. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that a few contractors provided bids for City-wide tree trimming, which ranged from $35,000 to $350,000. Mr. Austin said that a request for proposals for landscaping and maintenance services will be put out instead, including a component for the Public Works Depai tinent to maintain the thoroughfares that are the City's responsibility. Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to provide a report on the progress that the Public Works Department has made over the last 3 - week period, including the weekend work that was done. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin reported that his Depai tiuent started the trimming of the trees in the City's right of ways with a man lift, which he said was only taking place on Saturdays on a limited basis because it would otherwise detract from his Depaitiiient's aggressive schedule for the City's parks and other areas including pothole maintenance. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to inform the Commission about the efforts to establish a partnership with the Department of Corrections to get detainees to assist with cleaning various areas of the City. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin informed the Commission that the Department of Corrections provided a sample contract that is under review. Mr. Austin also said that his Depaitinent is working with the Greater Miami Service Corps and are in the final phases of getting them on board through the process of hiring people to work on the efforts to pick- up litter around the City. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to provide an update on the Burlington Canal project. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that the Burlington Canal project was put out to bid in 2014, but the City was unable to make timely payments. Mr. Austin said that the project's contractor provided a letter retaining the cost of the project to the originally bid value and based on that, his Department is working to remobilize the project. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin if the State of Florida had been contacted to use state revolving funds for the financing of the Burlington Canal project. The City Manager also asked for an update on the development of a partnership with Miami -Dade County to deal with other waterways that have waste. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin said that an extension on the Burlington Canal project was just granted, and an additional extension of the agreement is being pursued. Mr. Austin also stated that the City is in the 3rd year of a 5 -year contract under which Miami -Dade County is responsible for the mowing of the banks of the canal as well as the harvesting of any debris or algae in the canal. He pointed out that the contract with the County does not address aesthetics, but his Department is doing it under a contingency until the Memorandum of Understanding is modified to include maintenance and aesthetics. Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 City Manager Pate recalled that Commissioner Davis had spearheaded a meeting with representatives from Miami -Dade County Commission District 1 regarding the amendment of the memorandum of understanding. The City Manager asked if any headway was made on that. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin asked for the City Commission's assistance to get the memorandum of understanding for the canal maintenance, back before the Miami -Dade Board of County Commissioners for modification of the agreement. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to report on what the City has done over the last 3 months with the Ingram Park lighting project and the outlook for nighttime activities with lighting for the public. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that for his Department's aspects of the Ingram Park project, they anticipate having the restrooms completed by the end of June and the lighting system operational by the end of August. City Manager Pate acknowledged that the City just got a $100,000 from the Florida Legislature with a $100,000 match for security fencing at the City's park properties and he asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to inform the Commission which properties will have wrought iron fencing installed. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that he is in the process of putting out a request for proposals for the fencing of all the City's parks to use the $200,000 in funding. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to provide a report on Capital Improvement Projects including Old City Hall, the Fire Station and Human Resources Department buildings. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin reported that engineers performed their structural integrity evaluation of the City's Old City Hall today and will provide their recommendations for the project within the next 2 months. Mr. Austin also said that by August, they will also develop the final construction plans needed to complete the Old City Hall project. He reminded the Commission that they awarded the contract for the Old Fire Station and Old Human Resources Department building, and he said that a timeline can't be provided until the contract is developed with the engineering company to review the feasibility of repairs to both facilities as well as determine what it would cost. City Manager Pate asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to provide an update on Cairo Lane. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin pointed out that Cairo Lane is still under an integrity study, as well as evaluations of the architectural design of the roadway Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 and all aspects of the construction that has already taken place, to see if it is feasible to proceed with construction. Mr. Austin reminded the Commission that they approved an emergency request for cleaning and removal of unsuitable materials from the drainage systems, and he informed them that the Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, which is funding the project, is asking for it to be brought back to the Commission to have the emergency nature of the request tied to the contractor's scope. Adding that the contractor is in negotiations with one of the contractors that is going to clean 127th Street, Mr. Austin said that he expects to bring that to the Commission within the next 2 meetings. Mr. Austin also recognized the ongoing struggle to keep Cairo Lane drivable in the rainy season because there is no roadway and adding lime rock only lasts until the next rain event, but he shared that the roadway is going to be leveled and will have 2 -inches of asphalt road added for approximately $150,000 as soon as the contractor can mobilize to do so. He concluded by stating that the completion of the project is still projected for March 2022. City Manager Pate stressed how vital it is to keep to timelines for everything that goes on in the City, and he offered assurances that Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin will get the assistance he needs to be successful. Mayor Pigatt said he wanted the Workshop to stay on the topic of performance objectives for the Commission's priorities. Commissioner Davis noted that Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin said that the request for proposals was going to be put out for landscaping, but the Commissioner expressed concern that the citywide deep cleaning was not included. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin explained that their beautification effort is being approached in parts, with the first being the tree trimming. Mr. Austin offered assurances that the citywide deep cleaning will be addressed as they roll out the complete written beautification plan. Commissioner Davis asked Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin to recommend the exact amendments to be made to the memorandum of understanding with Miami -Dade County for waterway maintenance. The Commissioner suggested that the proposed amendments to the agreement should include a recurring schedule, which he said would be helpful in the conversations with Miami -Dade Board of County Commissioners Vice Chairman Oliver Gilbert. Commissioner Taylor noted that Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin talked about doing things in phases and the Commissioner asked if it would be possible to develop a maintenance schedule so that the City can be proactive instead of reactive. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that his Depaitiiient has a schedule for tree trimming and beautification, but they are limited by their manpower. Mr. Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Austin said that additional personnel are being requested from the Greater Miami Service Corps and the Depaitiiient of Corrections to allow the City to have a consistent maintenance schedule. Commissioner Taylor asked if the maintenance schedule was available to be provided to the Commissioner. City Manager Pate suggested that all facets of the City's beautification be addressed through the request for proposals process to include contractors m combination with City employees, which he said has been done in the past. The City Manager noted that beautification is very broad, and he asked the Commission to narrow the scope of what they want to see. Commissioner Taylor stated that some things can be done in-house like cutting the grass, cleaning the gutters, and picking the weeds out of the area with the Opa-locka sign. Public Works and Capital Improvement Projects Director Airia Austin stated that the maintenance tasks at hand cannot be accomplished without the proper contingent of manpower. Vice Mayor Williams noted that she has heard the proposal to add more staff from several departments and asked where the City was at with that if it is a barrier. The Vice Mayor also noted that she heard the phrase "we're in the process" 10 times and lamented that it seems the scope of work is too wide and not deep enough, asking what things can be done. City Manager Pate stated that he believes the Human Resources Department moved forward with hiring 4 employees with specialized licensing for the Public Works Department, but he said that he doesn't know where the process is at. The City Manager acknowledged that the Public Works Department needs to come up with a detailed plan to maintain a schedule for what in-house employees will be used for and what contractors will be used for, which he said will help build the scope of the request for proposals. He also said that the City has not been kept up for so long, that there is so much to do and though he said that it was not an excuse, he said that realistically they are always playing catch-up. Mr. Pate concluded by recommending that they have even more workshops to address the broad subject of beautification and get resident input from more than the select few the Commission gets input from. Mayor Pigatt stated that what Commissioner Taylor mentioned about the basic things needed to clean the City, is almost verbatim what the Commission has been saying on a regular basis. The Mayor said that he was expecting a clear game plan with accountability measures during this workshop, so that the City can go deep as Vice Mayor Williams said. He asked when the Commission will have those details so that the Commission can agree on what they'd like to do and formalize it into a document. City Manager Pate stated that the Commission didn't finish discussing beautification, the Human Resource Depai tiiient or the Police Department at the previous workshop, and he said that if his Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Staff came up with objectives and tied them to the budget, it may not be exactly what the Commission desires. The City Manager said that this should be the last phase of the interactive process between City Staff and the Commission, and he offered assurances that a document will be generated to bring before the Commission in time for the Budget Workshop on July 7th. Mayor Pigatt noted that the City's parks were next on the Commission's priorities list. City Manager Pate asked Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson to provide the Commission a report on the challenges at all the depai tidient's facilities, how that ties into programming and the strides that have been made during the last 6 months. Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson reported that all his Department's facilities have been activated, with Sherbondy Park being utilized for senior and youth programming, the Helen Miller Center being utilized for the Summer Camp as well as partnerships, and Ingram Park to be utilized for future ideas as they are still waiting on the lighting and some of the staff that's happening at the park. Lamenting that COVID-19 hit in the worse way, as he was coming in as a new Director, learning about the parks system and trying to meet the community as well as activists, in addition to getting the youth back to the parks programs; Mr. Patterson said that while it has been tough, the residents are back in the parks. He stated that staffing is a big issue but said that 2 recreation leaders were hired, and his Department will bring in more staff for FY22 to get the park system back up and running. Mr. Patterson pointed out that the Parks & Recreation Depai tiuent does not have a big budget, but it is being looked at and they are partnering with programs to subsidize what they cannot provide to residents. City Manager Pate informed the Commission that legislation is being processed to make Magnolia Park an official City park in the next 30 days or less. The City Manager also asked Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson to provide the Commission an update on programming in the City's parks. Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson recognized that Opa-locka has a huge Senior population and said that his Depai tiiient is looking at partnering with programs like the Greater Miami Service Corps and Silver Sneakers to be housed at Sherbondy Village, in addition to partnering with the Commission to expand programming for Seniors with services like aquatic classes, walking programs, in addition to other health, fitness and exercise initiatives. Mr. Patterson said that the Senior Coordinator goes to the Senior facilities to make them aware of the things the Parks & Recreation Depaitiiient has going on, in addition to the publishing of a calendar to inform the Seniors of the day-to-day operations. He also said that his Depai tiiient has youth programming, including having gotten the football program back, in addition to a karate program that is slated to start. Mr. Patterson informed the Commission that the Summer Camp at the Helen Miller Center will be COVED safe for about 20 kids, providing free lunch and snacks with daily activities. He also said that his Depai tiiient is looking into fishing programs at Ingram Park. Additionally, Mr. Patterson shared that his Depaitiiient is looking into parenting classes, including Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 financial literacy training to help parents. Mr. Patterson concluded by assuring the Commission that his Department is bringing new ideas to make the parks better. Commissioner Taylor noted that Facebook was utilized to get the word out about the parks being reopened, but he pointed out that all the citizens don't know and recalled that Vice Mayor Williams had talked about reaching out to citizens to let them know about the programs that the Parks & Recreation Depai tuient provides, and he asked if that initiative had started outside of social media. Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson stated that they are informing the City's residents that the parks are open by word of mouth, canvassing and through the groups that use the Depaitiiient's facilities. Commissioner Taylor asked if something can be mailed out with the programs that the Parks & Recreation Department is offering because he said that the citizens don't know that the programs exist. City Manager Pate stated that a document can be developed that can be vetted through the City's Marketing Department to be sent as a mailer on a quarterly basis and said that he would just have to get the preliminary costs but doesn't see it as something difficult. Commissioner Taylor asked if the Seniors Program goes to every Senior facility in the City or if they just focus on certain ones. Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson stated that the Seniors Program tried to get to every single Senior facility in the City. Vice Mayor Williams gave Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson 5 big goals, including the development of policies and procedures for the City's parks, Youth initiatives, Senior programming, an effective marketing plan to promote participation and partnership building. The Vice Mayor added to what Commissioner Taylor said about Senior facilities, noting that there are 2,500 Seniors in Opa-locka and lamenting that there are only 50 in the Seniors on the Move program and 45 of those live in one Senior facility. She asserted that when planning programming, the Parks & Recreation Department can't only go to an apai tinent building where it is easy to knock on doors, because there are residents in the community that they must try and reach. Mayor Pigatt stated that these are all items that the Commission specifically laid out in their last meeting. The Mayor pointed out that the minutes from the Commission's April 12th Meeting state that the City Manager would address the Commission's priorities on beautification, the Parks & Recreation Depai tinent and infrastructure within 2 weeks. He recognized that the events spearheaded by Commissioner Taylor have been a reignition of the City's parks, stating that the Commission loves the marketing and media on Facebook, as well as the fact that the parks facilities are looking much better than they ever have. Mayor Pigatt said that the Commission's goal is to Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 put things into performance objectives with timelines and a budget. The Mayor said that he doesn't see how the Commission will be able to have this conversation while also having a Budget Workshop, noting that it will lead to the actual passing of the budget which they have to do in less than 6 weeks to meet the August 1st deadline. Mayor Pigatt asked when the Commission can get the plans in writing with the objectives and accountability measures so that the Commission can approve it. City Manager Pate stated that if it is the Commission's will to not have another workshop on the Commission's priorities and not be able to provide further input, he said that a workable document with performance objectives for each department and budgetary ties can be brought back before the Commission in 2 to 3 weeks. Mayor Pigatt asked if it was the will of the Commission to have the City Manager provide them with a document with performance objectives for each Department and budgetary ties within 2 to 3 weeks, without scheduling another workshop for the Commission to provide input. Commissioner Davis stated that he agreed with having the City Manager provide them with a document with performance objectives for each department and budgetary ties within 2 to 3 weeks, without scheduling another workshop for the Commission to provide input. Commissioner Burke asked City Manager Pate if he was sure 2 to 3 weeks was enough time for him to do what he needs to do. City Manager Pate stated that based on the information the Commission provided today, he is fine with just rounding up to a month in case there is a delay. The City Manager asked the Commission to understand that there are competing projects including the operational audit and the development of the budget, but he assured them that he will make it happen and will communicate with the Commission if there is an issue. Vice Mayor Williams stated that the Commission's objectives and goals are things that they have repeated, and she suggested that each of the City's Department heads go back and think about the notes they took about the Commission's priorities and present that in an email to prevent the need for another priorities workshop. City Manager Pate assured the Commission that the document with the performance objectives for each Depai tiiient and budgetary ties will be provided via email for them to provide guidance if they want to make any changes. Mayor Pigatt expressed concern about having the document with the performance objectives for each Department with budgetary ties presented in 1 month because he said that the Commission will be preliminarily passing the City's budget by July 22nd, and thus it will be sent to the State of Florida without including the Commission's priorities. The Mayor said that when the Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Commission started the conversation 2 months ago, they were hoping that the Commission's priorities could be included in the budget, and he asked how the 1 -month timeline worked with the City Manager's estimates. City Manager Pate stated that all the activities are going on concurrently and that as performance objectives are developed, because the Depaitnuent Heads are already meeting with Budget Administrator Anathan, it is more likely than not that the approved budget would include those performance standards in addition to the funding to reach each objective. The City Manager also said that there is no timeline to set the objectives, as long as they are set prior to his evaluation period in April of next year. Stating that Commissioner Burke brought up a good point about having enough time to do what he needed to do, Mr. Pate expressed his hope that the Commission would be supportive of providing him the buffer room of an extra week to present them with the document including the performance objectives for each Department and budgetary ties. Commissioner Taylor asked if the City's Depaitiiient Directors are meeting with Budget Administrator Anathan and what they are proposing for the budget is based on what the Commission discussed if that is going to be discussed at the Budget Workshop on July 7th. City Manager Pate stated that the Commission might want to make changes and he must leave some buffer room for those changes to be made. Commissioner Taylor stated that if the Commission has a blueprint to start from based on their priorities, he is comfortable with that because as Vice Mayor Williams said, the City's Department Directors know what the Commission wants. City Manager Pate stated that he is asking for a month to present a final resolution to be passed by the Commission, because he said that the resolution outlining his priorities is a separate document. Commissioner Taylor asked if the Commission would have a draft by July 7th or if it will be a discussion on what the Commission wants. City Manager Pate stated that the discussion is over and will be a draft blueprint. Commissioner Burke asked what the status was for the City's pool, and when it would be operational. Parks & Recreation Director Delven Patterson stated that all the parts had not been available due to COVID-19, but that all the parts are starting to be obtained and electrical work will start on Friday, after which the pump will be put in the pool. Mr. Patterson said that he did not have an estimated time for the pool to be operational. b) CITY MANAGER EVALUATION TOOL Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Mayor Pigatt asked Vice Mayor Williams to lead the beginning of the conversation about the City Manager's evaluation tool. Vice Mayor Williams stated that she has placed the City Manager's evaluation tool on the Commission's agenda a few times and she expressed her hope that everyone has had an opportunity to review it. The Vice Mayor said that it will have to be completed on the computer for record -keeping purposes. Acknowledging the concern over the number of items, she said that she addressed it and said that she wanted to have a discussion with Mr. Pate to determine if there is anything that he thinks needs to be added or revised, which she said they can do. Mayor Pigatt asked City Manager Pate if he had any input on the proposed evaluation tool. City Manager Pate stated that he supports Vice Mayor Williams' creation of the evaluation tool but expressed his concern that he would be evaluated retroactively based on standards that are being passed today which he asserted he doesn't find fair or equitable. Vice Mayor Williams agreed with City Manager Pate that the Commission's assessment of the Manager needs to happen after the standards are solidified, so they can make an objective assessment of his job performance. The Vice Mayor also suggested that the City Manager might want to use the proposed evaluation tool with all other employees. Commissioner Burke asked if the proposed evaluation tool would be used to evaluate City Manager Pate now, or if it would be used for future evaluations. Mayor Pigatt stated that based upon City Manager Pate's response and the agreement from Vice Mayor Williams, the proposed evaluation tool is being workshopped because the Vice Mayor wanted to discuss any changes the Commission wanted to make to the evaluation tool before bringing it a Regular Commission Meeting agenda item. The Mayor also said that it seems as though the proposed evaluation tool would be used moving forward, which means that the previous evaluation tool that is already in place is the evaluation tool that the Commission needs to complete within the extension time that they voted upon a few weeks ago. Vice Mayor asked what the will of the Commission was because she is not understanding it. Commissioner Davis recalled having posed a similar question at the last Commission meeting, expressing his feeling that it's unfair to hold the City Manager accountable for objectives that have just been decided upon. The Commissioner stated that he is in favor of going back to the old assessment and asked if there was anything that would preclude the Commission from doing so to evaluate the past performance of City Manager Pate. City Attorney Norris -Weeks informed the Commission that she has been in discussion with City Manager Pate's attorney, and she said that the position the Manager and his attorney are taking is that the Commission cannot evaluate him at this time on anything, because they have not set their priority goals in conjunction with discussions with him. The City Attorney recalled that the Commission did agree to extend City Manager Pate's evaluation by 3 months and that it would be retroactive, and she said that she thought it was Mr. Pate's agreement too. She said that it does Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 not appear that the Commission has City Manager Pate's agreement to evaluate him at this point, noting that earlier in the meeting he said that he believed his evaluation would be next year in April. Commissioner Davis stated his understanding that City Attorney Norris -Weeks is saying that the Commission doesn't have a basis on which to evaluate City Manager Pate for his past performance. City Attorney Norris -Weeks informed the Commission that the position City Manager Pate and his attorney are taking is that the Commission doesn't have a basis on which to evaluate him for his past performance because his contract says that the Commission will work collaboratively with the Manager to establish goals and objectives, which would be tied to his evaluation. The City Attorney stated that City Manager Pate's contract seems to suggest that there would be a plan in place and the Commission would collaboratively establish goals and objectives. Mayor Pigatt stated that a few weeks ago, City Manager Pate brought an amendment to his contract to the Commission, to extend his evaluation period. The Mayor said that Mr. Pate is now saying that he is not going to go through with the agreement the Commission made with him, and he asked the Manager what changed and why. City Manager Pate said that he would rather not speak on it at this time. Mayor Pigatt stated that it is extremely frustrating to see games being played. The Mayor recalled that over the past year, the Commission has tried to set their priorities including multiple priorities workshops last year, and now they are getting more delays to set the priorities. He said that the Commission and the City are being put in a very difficult situation, because they just want to set the priorities and give the City Manager an evaluation so he can hear what the Commission thinks of his performance and can become better and do what needs to be done to fulfill the objectives set by the community. City Manager Pate assured the Commission that he has always been open to working with them on any objectives. Mr. Pate expressed concerns about the intent of some based on what he characterized as obvious actions, stating that he spoke to Vice Mayor Williams about the Special Commission Meeting that was called last Monday, to go over the City Manager's evaluation tool, without his input while he was on vacation, with no opportunity for discussion. He stated that he feels the intentions of some on the dais are not favorable to his future with the City. Commissioner Burke stated that the Commission knew when City Manager Pate's evaluation was, and they let that period pass. The Commissioner said that he doesn't think it's fair for the Commission to come back at Mr. Pate, even though he initially agreed to extend his evaluation period. Commissioner Burke stated that because the issue with the evaluation is taking time away from City Manager Pate and it is clearly not his fault that the evaluation period deadline was missed, he recommended that the Commission approve the new evaluation tool and look forward to next year's evaluation. Commissioner Davis stated that he shares the sentiments expressed by Commissioner Burke. The Commissioner said that the Commission knew April 30th was the deadline to evaluate City Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021 Manager Pate. He said that the Commission was under the impression that coming up with a new tool to assess the City Manager would be the best route and are now realizing that the tool would have never served the purpose of the evaluation period that was set to expire at the end of April. Commissioner Davis concluded by stating that to move forward, voting on the new evaluation tool is in the City's best interest, so that it can be used going forward. Vice Mayor Williams requested to have the item pulled from the agenda, stating that when she met with City Manager Pate regarding the item, it was to ensure the Commission had an appropriate tool for a fair evaluation process. The Vice Mayor said that it seemed clear that there's more work to be done and it is not the will of the Commission to do what she and Mr. Pate had agreed upon. She thanked City Manager Pate for agreeing to do it and said that she will continue meeting with him until they are both confident that they have achieved their goal and will reintroduce the item at that time. Mayor Pigatt asked Vice Mayor Williams to add a category to the City Manager's evaluation tool, that includes the Commission's priorities so that they can rate him on the accomplishment of those priorities. 8. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the City Commission, it was moved by Commissioner Burke, seconded by Commissioner Davis to adjourn the meeting at 7:02 p.m. Mayor ATTEST: Jo .; a Flores, CMC Ci ,' Clerk Commission Priorities Workshop Minutes — June 23, 2021