DeFuniak Springs City Manager Interviews
31 Tuesday Jan 2012
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in31 Tuesday Jan 2012
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in31 Tuesday Jan 2012
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in31 Tuesday Jan 2012
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inTo our DeFuniak Springs City Council members:
I’m not sure if you’re doing it on purpose, but you’re making it impossible to trust your decisions. At every turn, you’re giving us reason to distrust your motives.
25 Wednesday Jan 2012
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city council, courtesy, DeFuniak Springs, Harold Carpenter, Mark Weeks, ordinance, professionalism, Ron Kelley
Our council members acted quickly and decisively Monday evening to resolve a citizen complaint. And I was thrilled to see the enthusiasm.
Seems a resident of our fair town has an issue with neighbors playing loud music late into the night. He tried several avenues to solve the problem, but made no progress. The city seemed to think the problem was a police matter. The police seemed to think it was a city matter.
Mayor Harold Carpenter was adamant at the meeting that he wanted the problem solved. After some discussion about the need for a more specific noise ordinance, the mayor insisted that he was not willing to wait for a new ordinance. He wanted the problem addressed quickly and thoroughly.
But there’s a little more to the story. Continue
23 Monday Jan 2012
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city attorney, city council, city manager, DeFuniak Springs, Harold Carpenter, Henry Ennis, Kermit Wright, Mac Work, Mike Standley, Ron Kelley, Wayne Graham
Kermit Wright was so close.
For a brief moment, he was everything you would want in a city council member.
He trusted his instincts. He voted with the city’s best interests in mind. He acted independently of everyone else.
He saw a qualified, capable candidate for city manager who had the necessary skills and experience to do the job, and he voted to hire him. He recognized the leadership experience of John McCue, and he voted to hire the candidate with significant city manager experience.
And then, in a completely baffling move, he claimed that his “great respect” for the council led him to change his vote to match that of his fellow council members. Continue
20 Friday Jan 2012
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inAs I sat down to peruse this week’s edition of the local Herald, I noticed something interesting. Seems the DeFuniak Free Press isn’t the only group speaking out & getting involved in our local community. I am talking about an ad placed in support of Mayor Harold Carpenter, who I’ve noticed recently has really stepped up to show real courage under fire (guess I’m not the only one who noticed!).
Mayor Carpenter demonstrated tremendous courage when he refused to sign the contract to hire Mike Standley for the position of city manager under dubious circumstances. Most recently, he questioned the fact that Councilman Mac Work had 2 appointees to the Airport Advisory Committee, while the mayor had none. He continues to show strength in leadership and we couldn’t be more pleased that others are publicly recognizing him for it. Continue
19 Thursday Jan 2012
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in17 Tuesday Jan 2012
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city council, city manager, DeFuniak Springs, government, Kermit Wright, Mac Work, Ron Kelley, Sara Bowers, special meeting, taxpayers
If you haven’t been keeping track, DeFuniak Springs has a new city manager as of January 13, 2012. The council hired Interim City Manager Sara Bowers from a field of 30 candidates.
How we got to this place is anybody’s guess.
On December 20, 2011, the city council held a last-minute special meeting to determine which of the city manager applicants would be interviewed for the position. Though they initially set out to identify three candidates, the council named four finalists because there was a tie between two of the applicants.
On January 9, 2012, at the regularly-scheduled meeting, Janie Griffith questioned the council’s selection process, specifically the selection of three candidates with no previous city manager experience. Her research indicated that John McCue had 9 years experience, and Bowers had 2.5 months of interim city manager experience. The other two finalists, Robert Fullenkamp and Kebby Hall, had none. It is important to note that the 30 candidates as a whole possessed a total of almost 74 years of city manager experience.
When she directly asked the council members what their selection criteria was, Mac Work’s response was that he “… picked and chose.” Continue
16 Monday Jan 2012
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in“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
In reading this today, Martin Luther King Jr Day, I have to say how deeply it resonated with me. Go ahead and read it again. Pretty powerful stuff, don’t you think? Transcends from yesteryear right up to today too. The fabric of America was fundamentally changed due in large part to a man who had such unwavering conviction and a burning desire to right so many wrongs, that he ended up losing his life over it. Continue
11 Wednesday Jan 2012
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inThe DeFuniak Springs City Council unanimously selected Sara Bowers as a candidate for city manager. Of the four finalists, she is the only candidate who was chosen by all those involved.
Which could mean that she has done a good job during her tenure as interim city manager. And it could mean that she has the necessary skills to effectively do the job.
But I think we all know better.
When you’re dealing with a council that is known for its devil-may-care approach to government, do you really trust that they are seeking the candidate that can best serve the city? Continue