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5 compete for city manager's job
By SHEILA ESTRADA MADEIRA BEACH -- First the list had 53 names on it. Then it was 25. Now it's trimmed to five people, one of whom may be Madeira Beach's next city manager. The five finalists are: Roger Baltz, former Putnam County administrator; Rosemary E. Kulow, city manager for Sebago, Maine; James Madden, former city manager of Pinellas Park; Frank R. Spence, former Miami Springs city manager; and Kerry L. Willis, Hillsborough County management analysis officer. A sixth candidate, now in Alaska, made the finalist list but withdrew his name. "I am satisfied that all these candidates possess the qualifications for the job," said Robert Chambers, a consultant hired by the city to help in the search for a new city manager. Chambers previously helped nearby St. Pete Beach in searches for a city manager, city clerk and police chief. Ironically, Madeira Beach lost its most recent city manager, Mike Bonfield, to St. Pete Beach. Chambers was not involved in that selection process. No salary has been set for the new city manager, but it is expected to be between $70,000 and $75,000. Bonfield's salary was $76,000 when he resigned. After meeting with city commissioners, senior city staff members and city residents, Chambers created a five-page profile of the ideal city manager who would be the "best fit" for Madeira Beach. That profile included minimum qualifications in education and experience, as well as desired skills, management style and personal characteristics. According to Chambers' profile, the next Madeira Beach city manager should be a "visionary, proactive, decisive person" who will "adopt a hometown attitude" toward the city. The profile calls for a "roll up the shirt sleeves" manager willing to seek community advice and empower city employees to do their jobs effectively. The manager should be "decisive and timely," a creative thinker and adaptable to changing situations. This new manager should maintain a "true open door policy" and be a "strong people person." The manager should not be "egocentric" or emotional, according to the profile. Chambers picked the finalists after reviewing some 11 resumes individually with city commissioners. Each finalist was on every commissioner's short list, Chambers said. During the next two weeks Chambers will conduct background checks on each of the candidates. "My target is to have the finalists in town for interviews with the commission by the first week in March," said Chambers, who has already begun checking the finalists' criminal, driving and credit histories and will interview former employers and listed references by telephone. Here is a brief profile of each of the finalists: Roger Baltz, 41, has worked in municipal government for more than 10 years and is currently director of parks and recreation for the city of Lodi, Calif. Formerly, he was administrator for Putnam County, Florida, from 1998 to 2001. He also served two years (1996-1998) as city manager of Crystal River, a Citrus County community known for high turnover in the city manager's office. Baltz worked with Ray Kaminskas, who was Crystal River's police chief and is now chief in St. Pete Beach. Baltz left his job in Crystal River to become county administrator in Putnam County. Baltz was town manager for Pahrump, Nev., from 1993 to 1996. He also served as Palm Bay, Fla., recreation supervisor, was a management intern in the Fayetteville, Ark., city manager's office, and was residence facilities director at the University of Wyoming. Baltz lists "extensive" expertise in the areas of tourism, budgeting and finance, personnel, public works, land use issues, code enforcement, planning, public safety, collective bargaining, utilities and enterprise fund management, economic development, capital improvements, growth management strategies, parks and recreation, public relations and intergovernmental relations. He describes his present position as "challenging" with "an exceptional salary" but says he is attracted to the "career opportunity" in Madeira Beach for "professional and personal reasons." "My family and I have found that we greatly miss the quality-of-life elements which exist in Florida and have a strong interest in returning to the state," Baltz wrote to Chambers. Rosemary E. Kulow, 49, became the first city manager in Sebago, Maine, in 1999 and was closely involved in organizing the town's new form of government. Sebago's population of about 1,500 grows to about 5,000 during the summer tourist season. Among Kulow's first duties were developing the town's budget and capital investment programs, implementing a drug and alcohol testing program, hiring the town's first public works and recreation directors, developing the town's first policy manuals for personnel and property disposition, and managing construction of new town offices. Kulow previously worked as a transportation planning specialist with the Maine Department of Transportation (1997 to 1999), as well as city manager in Gardiner, Maine (1994 to 1996), Platteville, Wisc. (1993 to 1994), and Eastport, Maine (1989 to 1992). Kulow says her leadership style involves "communication, listening, innovation, inclusion, motivation, creative and forward thinking, strategic planning, teaching and example." She says she has "strong organizational and time management skills" and believes in finding solutions "by consensus." James Madden, 51, a Madeira Beach resident, was city manager in Pinellas Park until he was fired in 1997 by a 4-1 vote of the City Council, whose members blamed their decision on phone calls from city employees who had threatened to quit because of Madden. When Madden was fired, he was a 22-year veteran with Pinellas Park. He received a severance package of almost $46,000. After leaving Pinellas Park, Madden eventually worked for the city of Largo. His job there was annexing property, which often meant he was competing with Pinellas Park officials who were trying to annex land in the same area of the county. "I was a kind of thorn in their side," Madden said Tuesday. Last June he left Largo and went to work as a real estate agent with the firm owned by Pinellas Park council member Rick Butler. He and Butler have been close friends for several years. Madden said he had backed into the Madeira Beach job application. As a resident, he applied to be a member of the city's Board of Adjustment, a volunteer position. He was accepted as an alternate but soon received a phone call from a consultant hired to find a new city manager. The consultant asked him if he had thought of applying for the city manager's job. He had not, but agreed to think about it. The consultant called again and, after a "kind of back-and-forth," Madden put his name in for consideration. Frank R. Spence, 66, was city manager of Miami Springs for more than eight years before resigning last fall. Previously he was city manager in North Palm Beach (two years) and Miami Beach (four years) where he was closely involved in promoting beachfront tourist activities and development. He cites the creation of the South Beach and Art Deco districts as examples of reuse and rehabilitation of older historic hotels, and successful mixing of residential, commercial, new construction and new businesses. Spence has worked more than 32 years as a public administrator. He has been: assistant city manager in Pensacola, Miami Beach, Miami Springs and Delray Beach; and as county administrator in Alachua and Putnam counties. Currently, Spence is executive director of the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. "I have the knowledge, versatility, professionalism and commitment to serve Madeira Beach welland to accomplish the commission's goals," Spence wrote. He resigned from his Miami Springs position in January after a no-confidence vote by his commission which complained that his hands-off management style delayed city projects. The commission had previously complained that Spence was slow to fire staff members, was not concerned enough about city problems and didn't update the council promptly on city business. In 1998, Spence was named Citizen of the Year by the Hialeah-Miami Springs Kiwanis Club for both his professional contributions to municipal and county governments and his personal commitment to comforting terminally ill children and raising money for children's causes. Kerry L. Willis, 39, has worked for the past three years as a management analysis officer for Hillsborough County and served briefly as acting director of Hillsborough's Aging Services Department. She has extensive experience in municipal government, having served as city manager of Boynton Beach from 1997 to 1999, as well as in several management positions in Lake Worth (city manager from 1992 to 1995, assistant city manager from 1990 to 1992, and assistant city attorney from 1988 to 1990). She left Lake Worth in 1999 to become assistant secretary for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, but left after only four months. When she quit her state job, she cited unexpected levels of bureaucratic resistance, saying she had been handed a "gun with no bullets." State officials said Willis "conflicted" with community affairs Secretary Steve Seibert over management style. Her overtures to return to her previous position in Boynton Beach were rebuffed by the commission there, despite praise for implementing an early retirement program saving the city more than $1-million a year and building up the city's nearly depleted reserve account. Willis' management style while city manager in Lake Worth also drew criticism and led to her resignation there. She helped the town avoid possible bankruptcy and slashed a bloated bureaucracy, saving some $750,000 a year. She was described by the town's mayor as a "totalitarian leader" who had strong financial skills but lacked people skills. "I have been very selective in choosing to apply only for those opportunities for which I believe to be a good "fit' and in areas that I find attractive, safe and stable," Willis wrote to Chambers. "As my husband was recently remodeling the Don CeSar hotel in your area, I enjoyed the opportunity to spend many pleasant days in and around the area and found it to be a wonderful community."
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