City Commission - Special Meeting

Good evening everyone. We're going to call to order the special meeting of the Daytona Beach Shores, November 25th, 2025. Sherry, can you take a role, please? Mayer, I'm here. Mayor Pletus here. Commissioner Card here. Commissioner Conwell here. Commissioner Dinsky, I'm here. Hey, thank you. Um, and we have Reverend Melissa France from the Drive-In Christian Church to lead us in an invocation. Thank you so much for being here. Please stand. Let's pray.

Gracious God, we gather this evening with gratitude for the gift of community and the responsibility of service. We ask for your guidance upon this commission as they consider the important matter before them, the recruitment and possible appointment of a city manager. Grant wisdom in discernment, clarity and discussion, and unity and purpose that decisions made here may strengthen the well-being of Daytona Beach Shores and all who call it home. Bless each participant with patience, respect, and vision for the future. and may their work tonight honor the trust placed in them and reflect the values of fairness, integrity, and care for our neighbors. Amen. Amen.

Please join to in the pledge of allegiance. I

pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for all who came to this special meeting tonight. As you know, our city manager, uh, Curt Schwarzlander turned his resation in, resignation in in, um, I believe it was August or September and actually left in October. So, uh, our vice mayor, Michael Politis, has been in charge of the recruitment, um, of that program. So, at this time, I am going to turn the meeting over to our vice mayor. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, so I was asked to kind of spearhead the selection process and I got to tell you, I I sat and I reviewed all the resumes and I was uh had a bunch of different paths with different score sheets and and I'm going through all these people and I I kept on looking at them and then thinking to myself and then I had the brochure that by the way I got to thank staff that's amazing and the way it was prepared and it invited um a lot of resumes. I think approximately 40 39 Miss Susan.

Yeah.

So, I'm sitting out in my summer kitchen, which is kind of where I hold court. Have a cigar in my mouth. I'm just thinking about it. I I I I want you to know that I I really thought about what I want to do. So first of all I want to thank all everyone who was involved you know with creating the brochure advertising the position and especially the resumes that were received in the candidates. Uh there are a lot of different people from other areas and then I said I had had some advice from uh former city commission people. I had some advice from other people. And I'm sitting down. I'm scratching my head and I'm like, what would I do? Um, and I in my firm and I've been in private practice now about 30 years, I promote from within. And I got to say that when Mike Fowler agreed to be interim city manager, since that day, he's been not maintaining the city, but bringing it in a better direction. He has been meeting with staff. He's been visiting our our infrastructure, our equipment. He's gone down to the sewer pumps and the stations and uh the facilities. Um he's not in my opinion maintained I think he's excelled as interim city manager. Uh and so I reached out to him and uh we went a little bit back and forth. So, I want everyone to know that I want him to do this. Now, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to author a motion to allow us to appoint him a city manager. If we all agree or if we the majority agrees, wonderful. If we don't, we will continue on with the process. But before

I author the motion, I did a little bit of homework. I got a guy who has 31 years commitment to the city, has the respect of staff and directors, and in speaking with him, he's got long range planning ideas about the future of the city. Um, I think he embodies this the city's image and what the city wants to be because when we deal with other municipalities, when we deal with the county, when we deal with the legislature, I like how he looks for the city and I like how he speaks for the city and I like how he carries himself. I believe he is the person that will lead us and has those skill sets. So, in my effort to promote promote continuity and harmony that we have in this city, we all get along. I think um he's the one that's going to continue to make life better here. So, um I make a motion to allow uh Michael Fowler to be our next city manager to take us to the next level. And I'm looking for a second. I

I'm going to second that for discussion. Thank you. Um, so, so we're into the discussion phase right now. So, Becky, can you help me here? Is it an automatic appointment or would it be to enter in negotiations?

Yes. what it would be. Um probably the motion could be amended to be to enter in to direct the um it was the vice mayor to enter into negotiations for a contract to bring back the contract to the entire commission for consideration. I so amend that's that's fine. Okay. And I'll I'll second that also. Okay. Okay. And that would be the proper way. And then at the next meeting, we bring it back and um have a vote.

Okay. Vice Mayor, are you okay with that? We that it can't I understand it's not an automatic. We have to approve of ultimately the the package. The acting city manager had a comment. Yeah. I just wanted to say it will not be at the next meeting because we are finalizing the agenda tomorrow. So, it'll it'll probably be in January is the earliest that we could bring something back.

Thank you. All right. So, right now we have a motion. We have a second and um we have that for discussion. So, that's what I want to hear is a discussion from each one of our um commissioners. So, Commissioner Jensky, are you ready to discuss it now or would you like Okay. I uh I as you all know I was the public safety director here for almost 25 years. But one of the greatest things that a especially a long-term chief can do is to have a person replace them that's in the house that's ready to go. And I was very fortunate that I had Mike Fowler uh ready to step up when I retired for the last I've been retired now three years and a couple months and I've watched the public safety department bloom. He's done a fantastic job under very very difficult situations right when I left and and onward. He he is a a terrific leader. Um when he took this interim job I I knew that he could do the job. I I didn't realize that he would have this passion for it. Uh when I did it years ago for six months, I did not have the same passion. I've spoken to Mike a couple times and he has a real passion and he cares deeply as we all do about the city. There is nobody I could I could meet that would would be better for us to have as a city manager. I'm hoping that we can negotiate a good contract for him so that he he's going to stay here for many years. It's he's chosen. He's lucky. He's chosen a whole new career. He's had a great career as a police officer, fire chief, and uh I'm very proud to be able to second this motion, and I'm definitely going to vote for it. He'll do a great job.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Commissioner Card,

I spent the better part of my day yesterday speaking with the directors of the city. I wanted to get their take on it, how they felt about it, and it was unanimous that everybody was good with this. They felt that he was the right pick for it. I even went as far as I talked to lower level management. I went to employees and it's overall it was 100% behind him. He's a listener. Um they felt calm with him and that they would uh just flourish with him here. So I I got to say that swayed me and it makes me feel that this is the best guy for our job in the the city. So I'm behind him.

Okay. Thank you. So again, life is better here. Um I understand that he knows what's needed in the city um for the many years that he's been here. We're a unique city and we have um high standards and our residents expect a lot and he's delivered for so many years. Um, one of the things when we first talked about this was that I wanted someone that, you know, could work with the employees that the employees wanted. So, thank you, Commissioner Card, for going around doing that um, soliciting that feedback. Several came up to me. I did not solicit the feedback, but I had several people that had ca come up to me and said, "Is there any way that you can follow [clears throat] talk them into it?" I was not able to look at the list of all of the candidates, but from just certain people that reached out to me, I'm sure we had some very, very outstanding candidates, and I thank them for their interest. Um, I have to thank a certain city manager in Dan that told me, "Mayor, don't spend a lot of money on this because Daytona Beach Shores is a wonderful place to be. You're going to get a hundred, we didn't get a hundred, but you're going to get several several applications, which we did. I think our HR director will confirm that we got 39. So that was 39. One of the things I'm very very grateful for. I'm cheap. I don't like to spend a lot of the city's money. So we spent some money on that brochure. We spent a little bit money maybe on the advertising, but all in all, it did not cost our city a lot of money. And again, I'm so glad that we took that advice and and and went this route. So, um, uh, do I wish it would have been different that perhaps we would have done this, you know, right from the start instead of taking those applications. I'm glad that, you know, we didn't have to have people coming in doing the interviewing and all doing that. Um, so anyway, um, that's my comments on it. So, uh, Commissioner Conamus, we'll hear from you now.

Well, um, I am a Mike Fowler fan. I always have been. I know he did an outstanding job as director of public safety. Um, and he's doing a great job as interim city manager and I'm I'm sure he would do a great job as uh full-time city manager. Um, so there's I absolutely have complete confidence in him. Uh, if you'll remember from the beginning of this process when Kurt Forslander announced his resignation and I think Mike was uh appointed interim city manager, I asked him at one of our meetings if he would be interested in the city manager position. At that time he wasn't. Um, so obviously he would be high on my list. Um, uh, my only concern is for the people that have already applied. There have been what, 39 I think.

So we talked about this at the beginning stages that, you know, there are going to be people out there since this is public record. They're putting themselves out there. Um, you know, so I think, you know, we need to take that seriously. I don't know if we've heard if anybody has responded uh to the agenda in this meeting being called and the possibility of appointing um Mike Fowler as city manager. But um you know I think we need to take some consideration for some of those folks. Um you know and and I want to hear I would like to hear from the city attorney to make sure that this is legal um you know and any potential pitfalls that might be coming our way.

Okay. It's it definitely is legal. I I would have thrown it out there and stopped, you know, the scheduling of the meeting if there were a legal problem. Um, yeah, I mean, it is unfortunate that it did get that far along in the process that that some people did, you know, possibly reveal that they were interested in moving positions, but that is just something that happens. and you know I no one who applied thought that for sure they were going to get it anyway. So it's just a risk you take when you when you apply for something like that. But thank you for asking about the legality. I I did want to say that it is perfectly legal what we're doing

now in and I have a question for you um Becky is if when somebody applies for this and they're already in a a position working for a city or a municipality and they apply um does their name automatically become public record or does somebody have to do a public records request to find out who's actually applied? Well, nothing is ever I mean we we don't publish it. It won't be on our website or anything like that. If somebody did a public records request, they'd be able to get So, if somebody applied that works for a county government or city government, their supervisor might not necessarily know they've actually applied to this position. Is that correct?

They wouldn't necessarily know. Um I I would think that if you were going after something like this, you'd probably give a heads up to whomever you work for. would be just a guess on my part.

Yeah. And I agree with that too, you know, and I think I stated that probably anyone that was going to apply for the job was going to be at a professional level. And the professional courtesy is that you always let your supervisor know. Um I I don't know if that was a fact or not, but you know, I'm certainly hoping that somebody took that step in a professional manner. But you know, I appreciate your comments. Um anything else or any other questions? Now, does anybody know have we heard from any of the applicants? Um, you know, has anybody, you know, happened to see that we've set this meeting and anybody responded? Um, I I know we had one that went through. We had one withdrawal.

So, anything else, Susan? Any other feedback? No, Madam Mayor, just the one withdrew and then we had one of the 39 that actually took another position and was no longer eligible. And just one last concern and if it's not as big of a deal as you know just let me know. But the other concern I have is if we ever have to apply for a management type position in the city and have to go out and publicly ask for applications, are we going to be taking it seriously next time?

I I guess that rema, you know, remains to be seen. Um, and I'm hoping that, you know, maybe in three to four years, if you know, if this works out with our city manager and there's another opening to, you know, I think we we probably need to impress upon people is um, we're always going to try to promote from within if we have the candidate that's the best job for that. And I am all for that and I think I was on record saying that.

Certainly. And you know and initially my initial comments were is I didn't want to seek national you know um you know folks from you know different parts of the country um you know I wanted to limit it to obviously you can't limit it to just Valuchia but just our surrounding counties and but it you know turns out um I think somebody had made a comment that Coco maybe the city of Cocoa Beach or or Co city of Coco um you know um only had a certain number of applications. So, it was, you know, impressed upon me it's probably better to do a nationwide search. And and Becky, I think you might have made that comment. So, if I'm misstating that, just let me know.

Um, they they actually did it ended up being a nationwide search. Um, but they ended up interviewing five people and then they didn't they didn't choose anyone there. They chose the interim, right? Who had not applied, right? And that's always a possibility. So even if we went through the whole process and and I trust you know um the vice mayor um you know he's um seasoned veteran doing a variety of things and um he's you know employs many people so he you know he knows what he's doing but um again I I just I just want to make sure we do this right.

Absolutely. And you know I you know again you know people have put their name out there um but again I'm I'm a Mike Fowler fan. Um, you know, I think I made that clear um when this process started, but I again, I just want to make sure we view this correctly. Okay. Um, is there any other concerns that we should be looking at? I know I know you've spoke repeatedly with the vice mayor on this election, so I feel like we're doing everything. Is there anything else we need to look at? No. No, I don't think so. Um, the vice mayor did a really meticulous job with the whole process.

Thank you. Um, so now I'm going to reach out to the audience. Is there anyone in the audience that has anything to say about um the motion that's on the floor right now to enter into contract negotiations with our interim city manager? Anyone that wants to speak? Yes, Sandy. [clears throat] I'm Sandy Cook with Realy Pros in Daytona Beach Shores and I don't know if it's even if this is appropriate to ask, but um I was just wondering if you could share with the audience a little bit about your long range plans for the city. I don't think any one of us can doubt your um commitment to the city after all your years of service, but this is a new position for you. So, I'm eager to hear about what some of these long range plans are. Um, if you want to I know you have something planned for our dece December 2nd meeting on something that will interest Sandy very much. If you just want to do a high level and make sure you're here on December 2nd because I believe he is simply

I will tell you that staff has begun work on an economic development uh request for proposal. Um I'm a I'm a big fan of that. Staff is got a lot of synergy going on this and I believe that that is really where the future of the city is. We have a finite amount of land left here and it needs to be used in a responsible way to bring the best quality of life to our residents and our visitors so that uh we continue to improve. So that's the first thing that we're going to work on. All right. Thank you and I look forward to hearing more. Madame Mayor, may I ask one more question? Certainly. Oh, absolutely. Is so if if this appro if this passes, are we not going to consider any more applications at this point?

Um I I think that's a question for our selection head. The way I'm proceeding is I postponed the meeting we were supposed to have on Monday to review the resumes because there are no guarantees. We may not agree on uh a package. However, um yes, in the event we do not uh have an understanding and an agreement, then we are going back to the selection process and then uh the first meeting will be uh to review the resumes and then we start the interview process. All good questions, Commissioner. Um, I want to make sure we answer all of them. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Um, so

down [laughter] questions or any other comments? We hardly gave you your long. That's funny.

Thank you. Um, so now what is on the floor is that we I understand we have a motion and a second and that is to enter into contract negotiations with our interim city manager. So Sher, are you ready to take a vote on that? And that passed 5. So, um, thank you, um, Vice Mayor. I can't thank you enough for all the time and effort you put into this. We appreciate it very much. And, um, so I'm now going to go on for I have a couple announcements to make if we want to do regular comments. So, I will go first. Um, I would like to introduce I'm not going to embarrass her. She can just stand up. But we now have a new public information officer. This is Maddie Mallister. She came from us from that position in Orange City. [applause] and um she has been remarkable already. Remarkable. So, Maddie, we're so happy to have you join. We consider this a family. We're happy to have you join the family. Thank you.

And I think she's saying she wants it was a picture tonight. Is that what you requested me or? Yes, please. After we adjourn. Okay, great.

Um thank you. And um just want to remind you that we are going to have a meeting on December 2nd, uh our regular meeting at 6 PM. The next day would be coffee with the mayor, December 3. And we're asking everyone that comes dressed in your most festive attire to kick off the season. So I guess that means holiday sweaters. And then please, please, please remember this. This was so much fun. Last year we had our Christmas tree lighting. That's December 7th. That's a Sunday at 5:00 pm. We're going to um we had a rain out with Daniel Saxman Fukqua. Um and um he is now going to be able to be here for that evening. So we're very excited. We're going to have Santa Claus space planing hot chocolate cookies and snow and snow as well. So thank you Director Maddox for getting that all together for us. So um Commissioner Dinsky, what do you have for us this evening before we discern?

Um I regret to inform you that due to circumstances beyond my control, I won't be able to call in for the meeting. I'm I'm going to be um unavailable for a phone call. So, I'll just have to ask to be excused from next meeting. You have to take a vote to excuse or we'll take it that night. You can go ahead and take it now. All right. Okay. Uh just a consensus. Um a consensus is All right. Do we have a consensus to excuse Commissioner Dinsky from our next regularly scheduled meeting on December 2nd? All in favor say I. I. I. I. Um opposed. I think you're excused.

Thank you so much for letting us know in advance. We do want to let you know too that um on uh our next meeting, our city uh clerk is going to have a list of all of the meetings for all of 2026. I'm just going to ask you since we're scheduling that so far in advance to please, unless it's a true emergency, we're down to one meeting a month. So, please try to make those as best as you can. I certainly understand how things come up. Card, what else do you have for us?

Um, on the economic side, uh, a little shortsighted on this, but from what I understand from the city manager, a wine store is going to be opening up where the CBD store was previously. That'll happen in the very near future. I stopped by. I could not get in. Couldn't introduce myself. Another one is in the old Papus Plaza. There is going to be a laundromat that's opening up. Um I did stop by there also and they were shut tight, but I see the washing machines in there. So we'll we'll know a little bit more on the next meeting. Okay, great. Thank you. Um I don't have anything else. Commissioner Conamus, do you have anything else for your comments? Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you again for all your hard work. I'm sorry. Except happy Thanksgiving everybody. Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you, Commissioner. I mean, vice mayor. No, nothing else. Happy Thanksgiving wishes. Okay. All right. If there is nothing else, did I forget anything? I usually forget one thing. Anything? Okay. Thank you all for coming here on such short notice. I appreciate it. And the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you very much. Jesus.