The Wellington Village Council decided Tuesday to look into the methods other municipalities use to negotiate their managers’ contracts, at the recommendation of Mayor Bob Margolis.
The council historically has appointed one council member to negotiate, as was done by former Councilman Howard Coates the last time Village Manager Paul Schofield’s contract was renewed.
“I was going to talk about the appointment for someone to negotiate Mr. Schofield’s contract tonight,” Margolis said during council comments. “But instead, I’m going to just ask the council to consider some things and not make that discussion tonight for a couple of reasons. I had the opportunity to do a lot of research in the last couple of days on what other municipalities do, and I will share that research with you through staff, if that’s appropriate.”
Margolis said that he has been involved in three manager contract negotiations.
“It’s kind of difficult to do, and kind of rewarding, but historically, and the times that I’ve been involved in them, I’ve always got some constructive criticism from my fellow council members, which I expected to get, and I’ve appreciated it,” he said. “When Mr. Coates was on council, I think he also got constructive criticism.”
Margolis said other councils’ methods vary widely, from discussing the contract at an open council meeting, having legal staff negotiate, or picking two council members to negotiate separately with the manager in order to avoid Sunshine Law violations.
“That gives other council members a perspective; it gives them two sets of eyes and two opinions, versus just having one person negotiate the contract, which we’ve done in the past,” he said.
Some municipalities appoint a panel with one or more council members, a human resources attorney and other members of staff, Margolis noted.
“I thought that was kind of unique and kind of bizarre at the same time,” he said. “I’m not advocating any one of them. What I’m saying tonight is that maybe there is another way that we should be or could be looking at this. I’m not saying our way is wrong, but in researching what other municipalities do in the State of Florida, I found a lot of different options.”
Margolis said that he has not completed his research, but that so far, he had found that Wellington’s process of using a single council member to negotiate the contract is not common.
“It comes back to us anyhow, so what I’d ask you to do is possibly put this as an agenda item for Sept. 10, and at that time have the council do some research and share. We’ll have a chance to talk about this at our next agenda review meeting,” Margolis said.
That way, at the Sept. 10 meeting, the council could either appoint a council person to negotiate, or decide on another selection method, he said.
“Again, I’m not saying that what we’ve done is incorrect, but there are some other options that have certainly opened my eyes that we may want to consider,” Margolis said.
Councilwoman Anne Gerwig asked to clarify the process for two council members negotiating the contract, and Margolis said each would negotiate with the manager separately.
Village Attorney Laurie Cohen said that she has concerns about that method, because it would place the manager in an odd position of trying not to be a facilitator for discussions that have occurred between one council member, and becoming an intermediary to the other. “It’s something that would have to be very carefully done,” Cohen said.
Margolis said another option that he was interested in was having the village attorney negotiate the contract and make a presentation to the full council.
“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel, but there are some other options out there we may want to consider instead of just picking a point person to negotiate the contract,” he said.
Cohen also offered to do some research on negotiating methods, and Margolis said that Lynn Tipton at the Florida League of Cities might be a good source of information.
“She is the eyes and ears of every municipality in the State of Florida, and she might be a good person to ask for some feedback,” he said.
Gerwig asked about council members discussing both the village attorney and village manager reviews outside of public meetings.
“We cannot talk about anything we’re going to vote on, but for us to have conversations with each other outside of a public meeting about either one of these things would be improper?” she asked Cohen.
“I would recommend that you not discuss it, because even though you’re not voting on the evaluation itself, the evaluation could lead to a vote for or against retaining either one of us,” Cohen said. “I think it would be inappropriate for you to discuss that outside of the Sunshine Law.”
ABOVE: The Wellington Village Council.
