Measures to Strengthen Local Government Move Forward

Hiring of Appointed Officials and Public Records Retention Topics of the Day

January 03, 2018

At today’s special meeting, the City Commission tackled employment issues related to three appointed leadership positions, as well as enhanced public records retention policies.

The Commission voted unanimously to accept the resignation/retirement of City Manager Ricardo “Rick” Fernandez, effective today, January 3. Fernandez served the City of Tallahassee for nearly 30 years and is the only person to hold two appointed positions under the current charter.

Per the negotiated agreement, he will receive 18 weeks of his current salary as severance pay, prorated deferred compensation for 18 weeks and, in line with City policy for all retiring employees, payout of accrued personal leave and sick leave. He will retain all retirement benefits under the City Retirement System. The cost of the package is approximately $94,000. The Resignation Agreement supersedes all provisions in the City Manager’s current employment agreement.

Reese Goad was reaffirmed as the interim City Manager. The City Commission will discuss the City Manager position further at its retreat on January 10.

The City Commission also voted to adopt additional and enhanced policies concerning retention of public records. The policies primarily relate to electronic records in the form of text messages. Key points of the enhanced policy include:

• Transmission of any public record via text message over private cellular phone is prohibited (unless communication is captured and retained by City system, e.g., transmission to City-owned cellular phone).
• Transmission of any public record via email over private email server (e.g., @gmail.com, @yahoo.com) is prohibited.
• Transmission of any public record via electronic means (e.g., instant messaging or personal messaging such as Facebook or Twitter) where communication is not captured and retained by City is prohibited.
• All text messages transmitted or received over City-provided cellular phones will be captured and retained system-wide.
• Any public record transmitted, sent or received via text message or email shall be retained in City system.
• City leadership team (appointed officials, city management and department heads) and elected officials will file an annual statement confirming compliance with the public records law and city public records policies.
• Violation of the public records law, or city policies concerning public records, shall be grounds for disciplinary action.

Additional policy updates regarding payment for public records requests were also adopted. The updated policies stipulate that there shall be no charge for up to 100 pages of public records produced by the Treasurer-Clerk’s Office and no charge for staff time which does not exceed two hours.

The Commission voted unanimously to accept the settlement that has been reached in a recent public records suit regarding text message retention filed by a local news outlet against the City of Tallahassee. By statute, a prevailing plaintiff is entitled to recovery of its fees and costs in a public records lawsuit. Accordingly, the judgment provides for payment to the Tallahassee Democrat for its fees and costs.

The Commission also received an update on and discussed next steps in the hiring process for both the City Attorney and City Auditor positions.

In fall 2017, City Attorney Lewis Shelley announced his plan to retire on January 31. Following a national search, nine applications were received; three were deemed eligible. The citizen review committee unanimously approved moving forward all three of the qualified applicants to the City Commission for consideration. The City Commission will conduct interviews on January 17.

City Auditor Bert Fletcher retired on December 31, 2017. Recognizing the importance of a smooth transition to a new City Auditor, the Commission accepted the recommended process to hire a new City Auditor. The process includes a national advertisement, citizen review committee and a concise 90-day schedule to fill the vacancy. Members of the six-member citizen committee shall include the Chair of the City Audit Committee and one member each appointed by the Mayor and City Commissioners. To ensure continuity of operations during the hiring process, the Commission voted unanimously to name Don Hancock as Interim City Auditor.

City Commission agendas, minutes and meeting videos are posted on BoardDocs. You can also watch past City Commission meetings on the City’s YouTube channel.