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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_Workshop_09/18/2007MINUTES VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA VILLAGE COUNCIL WORKSHOP MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2007 1. Call to Order and Roll Call The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jim Humpage at 5:00 p.m. A roll call was taken by Village Clerk Lori McWilliams. Present were: Mayor Jim Humpage, Vice Mayor Pat Watkins, Council Member Amero, Council Member Tom Paterno, and Council Member Calvin Turnquest. Also in attendance were: Manager Michael R. Couzzo, Jr., and Village Clerk Lori McWilliams. 2. Review of Village Manager's Contract Mayor Humpage explained the workshop was to review the Village Manager's contract as requested during the September 13, 2007 Council Meeting. He noted the meeting was initially scheduled as a budget meeting, if needed, and was requested during the Council Meeting to instead be a workshop. He stated there was discussion about reviewing the contract and consensus of Council agreed to discuss (Amero, Paterno, Turnquest). Council Member Amero stated as a new Council Member he felt it would be irresponsible to not review a contract, any particular contract, which had a renewable clause. He felt Council should want to review the contract since things change quickly in five years and felt five years was a long contract period for any contract; be it either contract management or a contract for disposal. He said to extend the contract another five years without discussion was just unconscionable. He felt there would have been a 5-0 vote to review the contract and was surprised it was a 3-2 vote. He would like to hear from the other Council Members and the public to see how they felt. He asked for surveys and called and asked people questions and frankly was surprised at some of the things in the contract as compared to other municipalities of our size. He stated he did not regret requesting the review; he understood the Mayor and Vice-Mayor did not want to review but could not understand why. He said that was why they renew contracts and felt some of them were automatically renewed unless someone had a problem with them. He believed Council had let this thing go for ten years without a problem and did not believe that was right. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 2 Mayor Humpage explained the basic reason he did not want to get into contract discussions was because Council did a review in January and felt this was an exercise that both parties had to agree to change. He felt the key issue was if the contract was or was not renewable. Council Member Amero stated he did not know, however when he questioned other municipalities and told them it was a five year contract with a five year renewal option there was a lot of surprise with the term. He mentioned this was an aggressive contract and an aggressive financial liability to the Village. He wanted to hear what his peers had to say and if it was a majority vote then it did not matter what he thought, but wanted to hear what others had to say. Mayor Humpage reiterated the contract could not be changed without both parties agreeing and Council Member Amero advised that was the problem because there was an agreement that no one could reconsider. Mayor Humpage stated it was his opinion that Council could not change the agreement without both parties in agreement. Council Member Amero clarified the previous Council reached a ten year contract and agreed to this deal; it could not be looked at and stated that was his problem. He said frankly, he did know of anyone that had a ten year deal for anything, whether it was in private practice or the government environment. Council Member Amero clarified that the Mayor was saying Council should not even be holding this meeting and the Mayor concurred. Council Member Amero stated he reviewed the contract and the changes since its inception, and frankly wondered who was orchestrating the whole thing because it only got better as it went along. He clarified the Mayor was telling him now that we really did not even have the legal authority to review it and questioned why if that was the case they were sitting here. Council Member Paterno stated Council's legal representation afforded them the ability to receive the contract and that he was just going by what Mr. Hawkins said. Council Member Amero did not want to pit each other against each other and that was not why he brought this up. He said he felt responsible to at least have conversation to review it to see if Council all felt that was what we wanted for the next five years. Mayor Humpage said he was not saying that Council could not change items in the contract, but was saying in order to do so would require both parties agreeing to the changes. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 3 Council Member Amero asked to hear other input and would reserve his comments until later. Vice-Mayor Watkins asked what the goal was -was it to just determine whether or not Council believed in the automatic renewal or if certain issues should be addressed. Council Member Amero felt the whole contract should be addressed; from the compensation package to the allowances to what actually went into his retirement, including the car allowance and cell phone allowance. He said a lot had changed in the Village in the last five years and Council needed to look at how things have tightened up in the economy in the last couple years and believed it was a very rich contract. Council Member Paterno stated he understood the Mayor's opinion, but at the same time agreed with everything Council Member Amero said. He personally went around and received a copy of every contract in this vicinity south of here -about five of them. He went and personally picked every one up and reviewed them and could not find where anybody for instance the renewal issues, it was renewed every year and the Council votes yes or no just like with the water. He stated it was a ten year deal but it was one year at a time and after one year if it worked out great if it did not Council would decide. He agreed some of things in the contract were over the top. He referred to a document showing the total compensation package valued at $189,000, which he believed was excessive for our size town. Mayor Humpage stated when he looked back at the original 2000 contract and referred to the verbiage in the third WHEREAS clause, it read "the Village seeks to provide inducement for Employee to remain in such employment and make possible full work productivity by assuring Employee's morale and peace of mind with respect to future security" and noted this verbiage was the same in every contract. He felt when the Village first hired the Manager the Council was trying to ensure he would remain with the Village. Council Member Paterno asked the Manager to verify the exhibit being discussed was the original contract and Mr. Couzzo replied that he believed it was a copy of the original. Council Member Paterno stated he sees the signatures on the back were all the Council people of 2000 and asked the Mayor to refer to page one, as you pointed out since you brought the exhibit in, the last paragraph under "Terms". He referred to the last sentence, and asked the Mayor to read this. He noted it referred to the Village Charter that was updated in 2004 and questioned how Mayor Capretta could sign this agreement when it was referring to a 2004 document. He stated in 2000 Council would Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 4 not know that they were going to change the Charter in 2004 and questioned how this page got into the contract with these signatures. Council Member Amero read the section Council Member Paterno was referring to "as provided in Section 2.07 of the Village Charter dated in 2004" and noted this happened in 2000. Council Member Paterno pointed out the signature page of the contract had right data of who was on the Council at that time with Mayor Capretta; but he did not understand how three years earlier Council knew there was going to be a Charter change. Council Member Paterno stated he believed this was not the original contract and that this signature page was put into it. Vice-Mayor Watkins stated Council Member Paterno did not know that and Mayor Humpage agreed. Vice-Mayor Watkins mentioned it could have been a typo to which Mayor Humpage believed it could have been. Council Member Paterno asked how it could have been signed in 2000 and Council know about a Charter change in 2004 Mayor Humpage stated that was his interpretation and Council Member Paterno noted the date said 2004 and it was signed in 2000. Mayor Humpage asked Council Member Paterno if he was insinuating that someone changed the information to which Council Member Paterno answered this was not the original contract. Mr. Couzzo advised this was the contract the Clerk provided and Council Member Paterno stated he was just saying it was not the original one in his opinion. He said he called Mr. Randolph's office and was told by his secretary that any original that they put through at the time of the contract would not be a redlined contract and that a redlined contract would never happen in their files. Mayor Humpage asked the Manager to see if he could locate the original contract. He clarified that Council Member Paterno was trying to determine if it was a real contract. He pointed out two other Councils approved this contract. Council Member Paterno said their approval was based on what they were told was the first contract because they could not change it. Mayor Humpage noted Joann Manganiello was the Clerk at the time. Mayor Humpage mentioned the Manager had functioned under this contract for seven years and it would be difficult to change. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 5 Council Member Amero stated nobody knew there would be a Village Charter change in 2004 and questioned how this phrase got in there. Vice-Mayor Watkins stated the issue she had was she wanted Council to be very careful. She pointed out there were several Councils, long before her time, that reviewed and accepted the contract and Council just accepted another one in December. She felt since the prior Councils had been operating under these auspices then the contract was probably valid. She suggested asking the labor attorney for a legal opinion but did not believe Council could alter or change it without the Manager's approval. She said Council could discuss among them and they had the option to terminate, but could not just change it unless he agreed. She voiced concern with getting into litigation. She mentioned his allowance of a car and monthly expenses had not been changed in seven years. She stated her theory was that there was a Manager who was also the Utilities Director, who had experience with Public Works, and good contacts with the community. She suggested looking at what Council had in one person. She said Council could potentially hire a different Manager but would then need more than one person. She questioned what the Manager's incentive was to stay since he had been brow beaten for so long. She felt he did a great job and that Council was constantly at him. She commented on his creativity and the history of why he was given PRC's for doing a great job. She reiterated her concern of not wanting to get involved in litigation. Mayor Humpage stated for the record Mr. Couzzo pulled the original contract from the Clerk's files, and it was a redlined original. He explained Mr. Couzzo was calling Mr. Randolph, who was the Village Attorney at the time, to see if he could shed light on the subject. He asked what the purpose was here -were we here to change things in the contract, and if so, what items; do we want Mr. Couzzo to have less money, do you want to terminate him -what were the issues. Council Member Paterno said he found out this past week, that in the Manager's budget, the General Fund, he thought that that was all he was getting. He pointed out half of his benefits were from water and half of his salary, his bonus, and car and felt that in a sense it was being hidden from Council. He thought the $280,000 that was coming over was to pay for the half but that was not true, it was on top of the half. He said the way it was explained to him was the $280,000 was to cover his salary and related expenses, but that was not true. They actually take it out of there on top of the salary and benefits so it was $280,000 plus $90,000. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 6 Mayor Humpage asked what the $280,000 was and noted it was not earmarked for Mr. Couzzo. Council Member Paterno stated it was going into the General Fund and Mayor Humpage reiterated it was not earmarked for Mike Couzzo. Council Member Paterno said the contract had contractual services for $96,000 and $69,000 for professional services and that was $400,000 plus $90,000; and that was almost $500,000 that Council was spending. He said Council could have a Utility Director do it for less money. Mayor Humpage asked Council Member Paterno what the professional services were for, and noted it was for engineering, and pointed out Utility Directors did not do engineering. Council Member Paterno felt the Village could hire an engineer to be the Utility Director; that we had one previously and he was let go. Mayor Humpage stated his guess was that Mike Estop was making about $100,000. Council Member Paterno stated Council could reduce the budget by having a Utility Director. Mayor Humpage advised the Village would not hire an engineer for $90,000 and noted the previous Utility Director did not have the RO license that Mr. Fallon had. Mayor Humpage noted that if the Village did not have Mr. Couzzo then they would have to hire someone and Council Member Paterno agreed and said there would not be all these extra benefits to which Mayor Humpage commented they would unless you hire some creme de creme engineer to be the Utility Director. Mayor Humpage advised special licenses were required and Council would not get that guy for $90,000. Council Member Paterno disagreed and asked why the $248,000 transfers into the General Fund. Mayor Humpage stated he did not know to which Council Member Paterno responded he understood it was to help pay back for the time Mr. Couzzo and his secretary puts into it. Vice-Mayor Watkins suggested it was administration fees. Mayor Humpage suggested Mr. Paterno be careful what he wished for because he felt that would happen. Council Member Paterno stated he might be wrong but was willing to look at it. Mayor Humpage suggested Council stay focused on the reason they were here, which was to figure out what Council wanted with the Manager's contract. He asked do you think he makes too much money -not enough money; do you want him to quit -what are we talking about? Vice-Mayor Watkins agreed and asked what the goal was. Council Member Paterno noted he had issues with the contract -some had to do with money, some had to do with benefits as far as retirement. He said the Village was paying 23% in retirement which he felt was exorbitant - 8.6% in Village retirement plus 15% so that's like 20%. He referenced an email from Ms. Forsythe which advised it Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 7 was 8% in the general pension and 12% into this other retirement which was 20% and he felt it was excessive. Mr. Couzzo explained Mr. Randolph was reviewing the contract which indicated on the bottom of the signature page it was a redlined version and that might be what resulted in the strike through. Village Clerk McWilliams pointed out the contract Mr. Couzzo had in his hand was directly from the official files within her office. Council Member Paterno referred to a blank unsigned contract in the same file that was sent Council and noted it was different from the one that was signed. Mayor Humpage referred to the original with the original signature which indicated it was a redlined version. Council Member Paterno referred to page four and five where there were no strike outs in the one that was presented to Council. Mayor Humpage believed it was a valid contract because it was signed. Council Member Paterno believed this was not the right contract attached to the last page. Council Member Paterno voiced concern that Village contracts were not dated and believed every contract should have the date. He commented it was very unusual and there were too many things that were unusual. Mayor Humpage stated he was okay with the contract as it was written and believed that the words "shall automatically" meant what it said. He felt it needed to be decided was if Council could amend the contract with Mr. Couzzo's approval. That being said, he asked if there were specific amendments that Council wanted. Council Member Amero stated his interpretation based on Mr. Hawkins comments was that Council had the right to make a change and noted he would have liked to have had a municipal attorney present. Mayor Humpage felt this whole process was premature and money would be spent to do this. He noted Attorney Hawkins stated you could and the labor attorney said you could not. Council Member Amero stated if changes could not be made they were wasting their time. Mr. Couzzo suggested having Mr. Randolph, a municipal attorney, take a look at all this and at the file and provide a legal opinion. Council Member Amero asked if Mr. Couzzo was okay with it either way to which Mr. Couzzo responded his personal opinion was that Council should not be having this conversation without a legal advisor who Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 8 understood municipal and contract law and Mr. Randolph could do this; this was his suggestion at this stage. Mr. Randolph could provide the entire file and give Council advice both individually and collectively. Council Member Paterno stated If Mr. Randolph said everything was good with the contract and that everything had been done exactly perfect that he still had a problem with the contract. He stated if the first contract that they were seeing was not the right contract by some chance it got mixed up or whatever, but that it was not the right contract potentially. The question was is it or it isn't. He stated the second question was could Council change the contract if Mr. Couzzo agreed. He stated either way they still could request a change and should continue and see what everyone thought. Mayor Humpage stated that was what he previously asked. Vice-Mayor Watkins asked what Council wanted to change. Council Member Paterno stated salary and retirement; and that all the contracts he reviewed such as Jupiter, the contract was at will and increases were given each year - just like the old contract was prior to this contract. He found the retirement to be excessive at 20% as compared to other municipalities. He referred to his findings and said Jupiter had 46,000 residents, $100 million budget and the Manager received $166,000, $550 month for a car and 7.2% or $12,000 for retirement; North Palm Beach had 12,500 residents, a $23 million budget, Manager salary of $135,000, $575 car allowance and 15% fora 401 K; Juno had 3,600 residents, a 6.7 million budget, Manager salary of $108,000, $400 car allowance, $75 cell allowance and nothing was said about retirement so it must be the same as the rest of the employees. Vice-Mayor Watkins asked if these municipalities had police, fire and water and suggested an apples to apples comparison. Council Member Paterno stated he was comparing numbers and the responsibility level. He noted Jupiter had 411 employees; North Palm 184 full time and a bunch of part time; Juno 71; and Lake Park was in the 70's. Mayor Humpage clarified Mr. Paterno wanted to address salary and retirement issues. Council Member Paterno voiced concern the Manager could take his severance and walk if he felt like it. Mr. Couzzo stated that was not the intent of that clause. Council Member Paterno stated that was what it said and Mr. Couzzo explained it said if a Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 9 majority of the Council should choose either formally or informally to request his resignation, then he could opt to resign. Council Member Paterno noted three people, but it took four to hire or fire the Manager. Couzzo stated the supermajority was a Charter provision and the other was a resignation provision which really provided the Village the opportunity, hopefully not in this situation, but with some dignity if they were not hitting it with their Manager and they could not get the fourth vote but the majority of the Council wanted to make a change, they could then elect to allow the Manager to resign if there was not a supermajority. He noted this was negotiated into the contract and whether it was something that you wanted or not was certainly up for discussion. He stated to make it clear it did not mean that the Manager could at his discretion choose to say he was resigning and that he was eligible for the severance. Mayor Humpage noted they were trying to give another avenue to fire the Manager without a supermajority and Council Member Amero mentioned the Charter required a supermajority. Mayor Humpage stated the Charter required a supermajority, but the contract clause allowed three members of Council to approach the Manager and say this was not working out and it would be better for the Village if he resigned; which would not require the supermajority. Mr. Couzzo noted it did not require the Manager to take that suggestion and move upon it and Mayor Humpage agreed the Manager could say no and the Council would have to have a supermajority; it was not the Manager's call. Council Member Paterno stated it was in there he could deem to be terminated and Mr. Couzzo responded it meant the Manager could elect to choose that option. Mayor Humpage noted Council Member Paterno had said the Manager could just walk away and that was not the case. Mayor Humpage requested everyone's input on the issues they had with the contract and then contact Mr. Randolph for a legal opinion. He said If someone had an issue with the contract he wanted to know what the issue was. He clarified Council Member Paterno's other issue was the termination portion and asked if he had any additional issues to which Council Member Paterno recalled the indemnification clause was removed. Vice-Mayor Watkins stated the indemnification clause was removed at the attorney's suggestion because it was covered by state statute. Mayor Humpage noted there was a letter in the package from Mr. Randolph explaining the reason for removal and that it was not at Mr. Couzzo's suggestion. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 10 Council Member Paterno felt as Councils were elected in the future they should have the option of who worked for them and it should not automatically be a five year term and felt it was not fair to the Councils coming forth. Mayor Humpage again clarified Council Member Paterno's concerns were salary, retirement, termination and length of contract. Council Member Amero stated he sent a letter to Mr. Couzzo and told him this was not an assault on him even though it seemed like that, but this was one of the things that had to be done in a public forum; which he never liked. He said it was not fun for Council or the Manager. He felt for his conscious to be clear he believed it was his duty as a Council Member to review a contract when it was time to be reviewed and when they had an option to review it, as he believed they did, then they should review it. He had a lot of the same concerns as Council Member Paterno -salary and retirement. He stated he looked through all the surveys and felt this was a rich contract. He felt the pension provision was a serious hit over a ten year period. Additionally, his issues were the term and did not like the five year and felt it was ambiguous and as discovered this evening did not even know if it was supposed to be in the contract, the termination of a six month aggregate - he guesses he could live with that. Council Member Paterno stated most of the contracts he reviewed were for six months with no additional provision's. Mr. Couzzo stated the contract was the will of the Council at the time and agreed it was an unusual contract, but that was what the Council wanted. Council Member Amero asked if the Manager received a COLA when the employees did and Mr. Couzzo concurred, but noted nothing more in that aspect except the Performance Recognition Compensation. Mayor Humpage clarified that if employees received more than 5% then he would not receive this and he concurred. Council Member Amero noted most Managers received a car or allowance, but he felt his life insurance was on the high end and asked what the general expense of the $200 covered. Mr. Couzzo stated it included the cell phone which was his personally. Mayor Humpage clarified Council Member Amero's issues were salary, retirement and contract term. Council Member Turnquest stated his only issue was with the term of the contract. He agreed five years was a long time and suggested a two year renewal. He said he had Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 11 no issues with the salary. He asked to put this in perspective and felt when compared to what the Town Manager of Belle Glade received compared to Mr. Couzzo -our Manager only received $3,000 more than Belle Glade Manager. He commented that this was not the Town of Belle Glade and it was not run like Belle Glade. Additionally, he reviewed the PEPIE salary survey for 2007, which had 15 towns in it from Palm Beach County of which Mr. Couzzo's salary ranked 14th out of 15; the only one lower was Lantana. He was trying to compare apples to apples, but could not because he doubted the other Managers acted as Utility Managers. He noted the Manager wore two or more hats and to say he was overpaid for the work he did was an injustice to the work that he was doing. He explained the reason he agreed to review the contract was twofold. He interviewed the Department Heads and asked them to give him a professional opinion of Mr. Couzzo's work, and all had high opinions of his work. They all agreed Couzzo was stretched thin and needed help, but they all held him in high regard and respected him professionally. He commented on the retirement and other compensation benefits and did not believe they were excessive if his position was compared to positions in corporate America. He pointed out Mr. Couzzo was the CEO of Tequesta and asked Council to tell him that other CEO's did not have perks that run their corporations effectively. He did not believe you could expect the CEO of a company to have the same compensation, benefits and retirement plans as other employees in their companies because the other employees did not have the same responsibilities as the CEO. He stated when things go well, he gets a pat on the back but if someone inside the company errs and it affects the financial stability of the company then the CEO's head rolls. He stated it was up to Council, as the Board of Directors, to hire the best person for the position. He has not seen anyone who could do the job better than the manger was doing. He disagreed that it would cost less to hire a Utility Director and a Manager. He reiterated his only problem with the contract was the five year renewable term. Vice-Mayor Watkins stated her issue was that she did not believe Council had the right to interfere with the contract and felt Council needed to honor the legally binding agreement. She asked that a labor attorney review this issue. She felt Council would be hard pressed to find someone to do what the Manager was doing. She believed he was creative in what he brought to the Village and agreed he was stretched too thin for what he was asked to do and did not believe he was appreciated enough. She suggested instead of getting kudos he received everything but. She said she had no Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 12 issues with the contract and felt Mr. Couzzo did an excellent job and was probably not paid enough and believed the Council needed to be careful. Mayor Humpage advised Mr. Hawkins thought this could be done this evening but he did not agree. As such, he contacted Chris Kurtz and Leonard Carson for their opinions on if the contract was self renewing and if the changes had to be made with the concessions of both parties. He felt Council needed to get the opinion from a couple of municipal attorneys and bring this back. Council Member Turnquest asked Mr. Couzzo when the last time he had a performance evaluation by Council and Mr. Couzzo advised last year Council did a review. Council Member Turnquest noted the contract stated it should be done annually at least 30 days prior to Oct 1 and asked if he had one this year and asked how the performance evaluation compensation was provided. He questioned how Council could sit here tearing his contract apart when he had not received a performance evaluation for the work he had done over the past year. Mr. Couzzo clarified the evaluation was specifically to provide a performance recognition compensation and stated he withdrew the PRC consideration for this year. Council Member Turnquest asked if Mr. Couzzo was voluntarily giving up a performance evaluation that could potentially provide him additional funds of $15,000 - $17,000. Mr. Couzzo concurred and stated last year was the first year that the language was voluntarily amended because it was a net bonus in prior years, He agreed those were the numbers and he was voluntarily withdrawing the PRC review in consideration of the fact there would be difficult times with the contract negotiations and compensation for the employees and did not feel it would be appropriate for himself to take that kind of compensation at this time. Council Member Turnquest referred to the third WHEREAS clause in the contract and urged Council to pay close attention to this because it did not only affect the Village Manager but all the village employees. He read, "the Village seeks to provide inducements for Michael R. Couzzo, Jr. to remain in such employment and make possible full work productivity by assuring Michael R. Couzzo's moral and peace of mind with respect to future security." He reiterated that this did not just affect Mr. Couzzo but affected his Department Heads because if he was not in good spirits the ball would roll down hill and the Department Heads would not be in good spirits. He believed this affected the morale of the entire Village's employees. He said you could not beat down the Manager and expect the entire -all of our employees to feel the effects of it. If he was in a bad mood it would roll down hill and everyone was going to Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 13 feel the effects. If Council was able to, under the advisement of counsel, review the contract and make changes rather or not with or without his approval, need to be careful what they do because the morale of the Village employees was already at an all time low. He urged Council to be careful because some might feel if Council could affect the Village Manager this way, then they were not going to feel secure in their position and we would lose a lot of good people. Ms. Geraldine Genco Dube, 7 Country Club Circle, stated as a taxpayer and former Mayor, Council Member, and Vice-Mayor and a person who reviewed a lot of legal items, it upsets her to feel that a contract might have been tainted and was potentially fraudulent. She said other Council Members used the same document for the basis of making decisions. As a taxpayer, it also bothered her that that the Village paid someone to serve as the Utility Director, yet between engineering fees and consulting fees it was costing an additional quarter million dollars in addition to the salary of the person that acted as the Utility Director. She further stated, as a resident of the Village, she found that a compensation for pension of 20% was incredible. She stated as far as renewing - that to deprive future Councils the opportunity of having input into the person that they have to relate with as well as compensation which affected our taxes was totally unfair. Ms. Dorothy Campbell, 30 Eastwinds Circle, voiced frustration with not being able to hear Council and said the Village had a bad public address system. Geraldine Genco apologized and said she had an appointment and had to leave. Ms. Campbell stated she had been here since 1970 and a resident through the years of Bob Harp, Tom Bradford and Michael Couzzo. She said as a taxpayer she thought she paid more taxes than anybody in town between residential and commercial. She said she was pleased to pay every cent because the Village, right now, was in the best condition it had ever been in. She had the joy of working on Tequesta's Golden Tribute this year and spent a lot of fun hours working not only with her great committee but with the employees of this Village; with the exception of one, who would remain nameless. She felt the Village had the highest caliber of Department Heads and the highest caliber of newly hired Police Officers; and under this man's direction the Village had really improved. She reminded Council we were a Village and not the Town of Jupiter and that residents were here because we were a Village. She asked how many were at the hearings with the applicants and stated she was. She said there was one guy that was cuter than he was but certainly not any one that was as well qualified for this job. If you had been here during the tension years of the Bradford administration, all of the Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 14 employees or probably 90% of them had hesitations and problems with their positions. She mentioned it was the niftiest thing about working on the Golden Tribute was the wonderful spirit that our people have and it has to do with this man's leadership. She noted she had a management consultant company which she inherited in 1962 and under her stewardship she now had over 900 employees. She said one of the things that she found in providing services to smaller and medium sized businesses was that some of the most important things were not black and white words on paper; it was the feeling the esprit de corps - it was the whole essence of the organization. She commented on standing in a building that was paid for before it was built and suggested Council pick out some of these other towns and tell her that they were all in that same situation. She encouraged Council to support Mr. Couzzo's leadership; she did not care if it was a five year or ten year renewal. She stated we were the Village of Tequesta and not somebody else -we're us and let's keep on doing what we have been doing and not lose it. She suggested the Village might lose if they kept on doing this sort of thing. Council Member Paterno thanked the residents for coming and appreciated the Manager and Council for coming and wanted to let everyone know that he appreciated that. He knew there were a lot of things going on, but wanted to let everyone know he appreciated them coming. Mayor Humpage stated he was distressed that Ms. Genco left since she brought up this possible fraudulent contract. He advised those were serious allegations. He mentioned the Village Manger was instructed to pursue this through Mr. Randolph and again suggested it was an error or scrivener's error. He said he did not like the word fraudulent and believed that was a very dangerous position to take. He wanted to get to the bottom of this and wanted to treat everyone equally to get their two cents in, but urged Council to be guarded about the remarks made. Vice-Mayor Watkins asked Council to keep in mind this was a Council of five, the Manager and attorneys at the time that crafted this document was agreed to. She reminded Council that Ms. Genco was on the Council at the time the document was approved and noted this was an agreed upon worked out document. She urged all to keep that in mind. Mayor Humpage stated everyone would get a copy of the interpretations and Council would have to reconvene. Village Council Workshop Meeting September 18, 2007 Page 15 Mr. Couzzo stated obviously he took great indifference to the suggestion that the administration and all previous Council Members had done something fraudulent. He said if in fact that was a suggestion that someone would like to make, then he suggested they make it and he would have it investigated. As Councilman Turnquest said before, the negativity that flowed from these types of comments regarding individuals that were extremely dedicated and committed employees of this community, that worked excessive hours; it was just inappropriate in his opinion. In regards to Councilman Amero's comment about it being difficult - he certainly agreed. He told the Village Clerk today that performance reviews for Managers were nothing short of being in an audience of people and the only one without trousers was the Manager; that was how uncomfortable this was. He stated this was a wonderful Village that people have dedicated themselves to and he was pleased to have served for the past seven years. He suggested looking at some of the other communities; find out the longevity of some of those Managers, find out how long they have been there, and find out what they have done for those communities. He mentioned he was very pleased with what Mr. Turnquest said last week that Tequesta was not like any other community in this county and if this was to be the premiere community, we did not want to have himself or any employee at the bottom of the totem pole. He commented that Council Member Paterno and he have had this conversation more than once -you get what you pay for and if you want quality and performance you need to make that investment. Council Member Amero moved to adjourn at 6:15 p.m.; Vice-Mayor Watkins seconded; the motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Eye. (Y1 e~ ~c~ Lori McWilliams, CMC Village Clerk