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Guest column: Rancor over city manager embarrassed Dunedin

 
Published Feb. 11, 2016

The recent sequence of events involving the evaluation and resignation of the Dunedin city manager has raised questions regarding the process of presenting issues to come before the city commission as well as the conduct of all participants at such meetings.

At the Jan. 21 commission meeting, a longstanding rule of procedure was arbitrarily reversed when comments from the floor were invited prior to conducting the city manager's annual review by the city commission. This resulted in public comments based on hearsay and speculation without the benefit of facts regarding job performance that were later presented in the commission's evaluation and are now public record for all to see.

A periodic evaluation of the city manager's job performance is to be done by the entire city commission. A commissioner is expected to voice his or her opinion about the job performance of the manager. This happens each year during the regular performance evaluation but concerns regarding job performance can and should be made, when necessary, during the "Commission Comments" portion on the agenda of any scheduled meeting regardless of whether that meeting has been extended for other reasons.

For the process to be fair and equitable to all parties concerned, members of the commission each have an opportunity to state the facts as they see them and express their opinions in open meeting. Then informed citizens have the right to express their views on the performance of the city manager based on their own experience and facts presented by the commission.

But at the Jan. 21 meeting, the roles were reversed and that reversal resulted in hostile and uninformed comments which, in my opinion, were encouraged by a lack of information and sadly, misinformation. That hostility and disrespect for both the participants and the process was continued when, at last, the city manager's bosses were supposed to be able to state their position but the disruptive actions of some who were previously invited to speak, denied the commission the same civility they had extended to others. The rude catcalls and comments can easily be heard in the Dunedin TV replay but even that replay does not reflect the intensity heard and felt by those actually present.

The altered evaluation meeting procedure and rancorous demonstration by that vocal few resulted in an embarrassing spectacle that reflected poorly on our city. That result was unnecessary.

It is my hope that the city will move forward in its search for a permanent new manager and, going forward, conduct all its meetings in an orderly and civilized fashion with due regard and respect for the proper process and thoughtful opinions of all involved. Our city deserves nothing less.

Peter Kreuziger is president and CEO of Advantus, a multimillion dollar international corporation that owns and operates resort operations, tour and travel companies. He is a founding member of the Dunedin Merchants Association and operates Bon Appetit restaurant, which he opened in 1976.