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HomeMy WebLinkAbout061815 CC Min (Special)The City of West University Place A Neighborhood City CITY COUNCIL Susan Sample, Mayor Bob Kelly, Mayor Pro Tem Burt Ballanfant, Councilmember Brennan Reilly, Councilmember Mardi Turner, Councilmember STAFF Michael Ross, City Manager Alan Petrov, City Attorney Thelma Lenz, City Secretary CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES The City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in a special meeting on Thursday, June 18, 2015, in the Municipal Building, 3800 University, West University Place, Texas beginning at 9:00 a.m. Agenda Items were as follows: Call to Order. Mayor Sample called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers. Council and Staff in attendance were: Mayor Pro Tern Kelly, Councilmembers Ballanfant, Reilly and Turner, City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, City Attorney Petrov, and Police Chief Walker were also present. Secretary Lenz confirmed that the Notice of the special meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter 551. Councilmember Ballanfant led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. Public Comments This was an opportunity for citizens to speak to Council relating to agenda and non - agenda items. Steve Brown, 3305 Rice Boulevard, spoke regarding City Manager Ross and said Mr. Ross should not be fired or asked to resign. He said Michael has served the City for nearly 15 years, he is highly professional and he has proven himself readily responsive to the guidance of City Council. Mr. Brown said this cooperative leadership has West U running so well that most residents simply ignore City Council meetings and City elections. He said some of Council may feel that it has gone too far and that retaining Michael is no longer possible, but if that is the thinking it underestimates Michael's professionalism and ability to adapt to the Council's priorities. He said he is sure that Council wants what is best for West U and he is confident that Michael does, as well. He asked that Council reconsider and keep Michael Ross and his team together for the good of West U and to keep West U as one of Texas' most attractive places to live. Steven Segal, 2901 Sunset spoke regarding the City Manager and quoted Sections 6.01 and 6.02 (in part) of the City Charter related the city manager's position. He said in common "corporate terms" Council acts as the Board of Directors setting policy and the City Manager is the Chief Operating Officer responsible for implementation of that policy and supervision of all employees. He said most residents are very happy with the services provided by our City, so much so that 80% of residents regularly do not even bother to vote — they just assume the City Staff will continue to function at the current outstanding level with Michael Ross as City Manager and our current City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 Department Heads in office — regardless of who is on Council. Michael Ross followed directions from the last Council just as he has the past 14 years. He said two of the councilmembers have never worked with Michael Ross as the City Manager and have no basis to evaluate him and two others served on Councils which gave Mr. Ross good reviews and raises, so, he asked, what is the basis for conspiring to remove Michael Ross from office in violation of the spirit of, or actual, Texas Open Meetings Act. He said you don't kill the messenger for doing his job really well. Mr. Segal stated to Council that this was its first council meeting and it has scored really low on transparency, honesty and integrity. He asked Council to please get over the pettiness and help the great City of West U move forward. Marshall Clinkscales, 4031 Southwestern, spoke regarding the city manager and said he has known Michael Ross for 14 years and during those years observed that he is a man of absolute integrity and high moral character, highly respected in his field, extremely competent and an asset to the City. He said it has always been his experience that Michael's sole interest is to provide the City Council with sound advice and information enabling it to make proper decisions that would benefit the citizens of West U. He said Michael's only agenda has been to manage the City in a manner that benefits its citizens and he hardily recommended that Michael be retained. Jim Shields, 3409 Amherst, spoke regarding the city manager. He said he has known Bob Kelly for a long time and he was relentless in his desire to exact revenge on Michael Ross. He also said he was disgusted by the language the slate used when campaigning and said it was disgraceful what they said about former mayor Bob Fry. Joan Johnson, 6615 West Point, spoke regarding the city manager and asked Council what its basis was for asking Michael to resign his position and why the urgency. She said the City is efficiently run, which is due to Michael's management, and received a top workplace award in 2012, the only governmental entity in an 8- county region. Ms. Johnson said some would say Michael acted on his own when meeting with the West U Baptist Church during the land swap discussion and that would be wrong, because she was on City Council and he acted under the direction of mayor and Council. Regarding the process of hiring a new city manager, Ms. Johnson said this council has not shown, so far, any interest in researching anything before doing it. She said as a resident of West U, she is concerned about the way this Council makes decisions and hopes it changes its ways in the future. Susan Ohsfeldt, 4101 Tennyson, spoke to say that she supports City Council's decision regarding Mr. Ross, however it goes. Ed Heathcott, 2729 Arbuckle, spoke regarding the city manager and said he has not heard a public explanation for the actions, decisions or conduct of Michael Ross as to why he is being terminated. He said the buyout of his contract for his forced resignation is going to be expensive — about $300,000, and he thinks for transparency sake, Council needs to make the reason for his termination clear. He said Mr. Ross is so respected in the industry that getting qualified candidates [to replace him] will be difficult, because Council's reputation of getting rid of people without cause is going to be a serious act. Mr. Heathcott said Mr. Ross is very ethical, works very hard and follows direction of the City Council, so he can't understand what has happened. He said Council has time to step back from this and think things through and not let personal pride drive them down the wrong road. Katherine Sweeney, 3823 University, spoke regarding the city manager and said she and her sister have had communication and meetings with Michael Ross since 2007, the most recent regarding ownership of their property. She said Mr. Ross offered options for their dealings with the 2of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 City, which she assumes were approved by Council before being presented to them; so, she questions whether Council approves the city manager's actions or does he make decisions on his own. She said she assumes that whatever happens on this issue, Council will let the residents know that the [city manager's] actions are approved by Council. Michelle Moore, 3908 Rice, spoke regarding the city manager to say that she can't believe she is speaking to complain about transparency. She said she voted for this Council because she wanted transparency, but looks like she's not getting it. She echoed what Joan Johnson and Steven Segal had to say and said she has heard of no reason why Mr. Ross should even come up for review, yet Council is already setting up to fire him and has somebody lined up to replace him without researching qualified candidates. Ms. Moore quoted Councilmember Reilly from November 10, 2014 when he addressed the Council at that time and said "this process stinks." She advised Council to revise its process to be more open and transparent, follow its own advice and step back and reconsider the way it is conducting the City's business. Ms. Moore said she has no idea whether Mr. Ross is a good manager, but this process is not giving due consideration to his performance and judging him objectively on whether he performed the duties he was assigned to do. She said it is pretty apparent that something else is going on and asked Council to stop the process, step back and conduct itself in a more professional manner. Alicia Drewes, 6112 Fordham, spoke regarding the city manager and said she fully supports Council's decision to investigate Michael Ross and possibly his dismissal. She said as far as transparency, all the City workers salaries can be viewed expect for Michael Ross'. She said citizens may not be involved to vote and come to Council meetings because they work to pay for expensive property and high taxes. Ms. Drewes said at one time she had a discussion with Mr. Ross and he said he wanted to meet her halfway about an issue, then the next thing she knows he sends her a letter threatening her with legal action if she gets one cup of coffee or any other small item from the Senior Center. She said she is not allowed to go to the gym or the pool and she thinks it is wrong for a city manager to hold the state of someone's health as a bargaining chip. Ms. Drewes said she is also threatened if she talks to city employees and said he wants to totally remove her first amendment rights so he needs to go. David Dutch, 3901 Rice, spoke to say first that he would like Council to receive public comments after it has actually discussed business so that the public can comment on what Council talks about. He then said it was great to hear from former Councilmembers Heathcott and Johnson, but said one of the reasons the City is in this mess is because the way that the former Council handled the Super Block issue, which was incredibly poorly. He said he likes Mr. Ross and thinks he is a great city manager and, though he thinks Mr. Ross has a very different view than a lot of the citizens, he does a great job at running the City. Mr. Dutch told Council that he supported all of them, but doesn't like the way it is handling things procedurally. He asked this Council to think things through and be transparent, because he does not want to become an enemy of this Council like he did with the last one. Michelle Shen, 3829 Oberlin, spoke to say that she would encourage this Council to think about how to be a good public servant and how not to put personal interests and motives ahead of its position. She said this Council ran on transparency, but so far its actions have been anything but transparent. She said hiring an employment counselor is just another way for Council to get what it wants without getting its hands dirty. She encouraged Council to not waste taxpayer funds on hiring unnecessary employment counsel to aid in a biased motive to fire Michael due to personal vendettas. She asked that Michael be allowed to continue his work and finish his contract with the City. 3of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 George Boehme, 3005 Robinhood, spoke regarding the city manager issue and told Council it has a right to do what it is doing, but there is a difference between having the right to do something and it being the right thing to do. He said he was on City Council between 2009 and 2011 and, though Michael is a good friend of his, Michael advocated for the majority of Council, not just him or a minority of Council. He said the very second a city manager stops following the lead of a majority of Council is the day he /she becomes a former city manager. Mr. Boehme said Michael has never worked for the majority of this Council so why is the first order of business to fire him for advocating the interest of his previous bosses. Mr. Boehme reached the maximum of 3 minutes and requested additional time; so, Councilmember Ballanfant moved to approve an additional minute for Mr. Boehme to speak. Councilmember Kelly seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner Noes: None Absent: None Mr. Boehme continued his comments and described an issue that made the previous city manager a target of the then new elected Council. He said once the council was elected, however, it decided to give the city manager a chance and 6 months later everybody that was on Council that wanted to get rid of him loved him. He said it's a matter of the city manager responding to his bosses. Councilmember Reilly spoke to say that if time is going to be extended for one speaker, then it should be extended for all in the future. Mayor Sample pointed out that Mr. Boehme was the only speaker that requested an extension With no other speakers signed up to speak, Communications Manager Leon - Barber read the following letters from residents that requested that they be read into record. Phyllis Cohen, 6619 Mercer, wrote: To the City Council of West University Place: i am writing to you in connection with the potential termination/forced resignation of Michael Ross as City Manager. i regret that I cannot attend the June 18, 2015 meeting, and thank you in advance for reading this letter. I also request that you allow this letter to be read aloud at the meeting, by Thelma Lenz, or another person so designated. As many of you know, I served on the City Council from 2005 -2009. I also served on the Charter Review Committee in 2014, and the Parks Master Planning Task Force, which recently presented its report to the City Council. I oppose the process the City Council is using in seeking Mr. Ross' termination forced resignation, as well as to the potential termination/forced resignation of Mr. Ross on the merits. First, the special City Council meeting is set for a Thursday morning, when most people are a work. A matter of such importance and such consequence should be set at a regular City Council meeting in the evening when most people are free to attend. I request that, if Council continues to pursue a potential termination forced resignation, the Council defer consideration of the matter until a regular Council meeting. Second, 1 am concerned that that the Council has violated the Open Meetings Act. Prior to any further consideration of the matter of Mr. Ross' termination/forced resignation, the conversations City Council 4of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 members have had outside of a Council meeting on this topic should be investigated. It is impossible to believe that two members of Council would approach Mr. Ross requesting a resignation without previously discussing the matter with at least one other Council member. A meeting, or conversation, among three members violates the Open Meetings Act. As you know, a violation of the Act also occurs when one member talks to another, who then talks to another, or when the first member talks to two different members about an issue regarding the City. Third, termination of a City Manager (or a request for resignation) is an extremely serious matter, which, among other factors, requires substantial consideration of fairness, the work of the City Manager, and the consequences to the City. Since the request by Mr. Ballanfant and Mr. Reilly for Mr. Ross' resignation occurred on June 3, just three days of their assuming office, those Council members could not have properly evaluated any of the pertinent issues. Since this Council will have worked with Mr. Ross for but 18 days as of June 18, Council members do not now have a fair or reasonable basis to determine that Mr. Ross' work is insufficient in some way or that he cannot or should not serve the City in the exemplary way he has for years. Fourth, it is clear that at least three, and probably four, Council members have discussed the potential termination forced resignation of Mr. Ross outside of public meetings. As stated above, if these discussions occurred after the early evening of June 1 when the Council was sworn, then a violation of the Open Meetings has occurred (and that matter should be investigated prior to any further action). To the extent Council Members discussed the termination /resignation of Mr. Ross prior to assuming their office, it is even clearer that the termination is not based on any reasonable evaluation of Mr. Ross in his duties as City Manager, or upon a transparent consideration of the matter. In either case, it is apparent that secret and undisclosed meetings form the basis of a decision of great significance and impact to our City. Whether before or after their assuming office, the conversations of Council members on this topic should be divulged and investigated before any further consideration of Mr. Ross' termination/forced resignation occurs. Fifth, Messrs. Ballanfant and Kelly each participated in and approved positive evaluations and salary increases for Mr. Ross during their tenures as Mayor. Since they spent just three days on Council before requesting that Mr. Ross resign, they have reasonable basis to depart from their prior praise for Mr. Ross. Sixth, Mr. Ross has been an exemplary City Manager and he is the right person to serve as City Manager now. As a former member of the City Council, including as Mayor Pro Tem, and as a member of the committee and task force noted above, 1 have worked extensively with Mr. Ross, t have also had contact with Mr. Ross as a typical West U citizen seeking assistance or information from the City. 1 know Mr. Ross to be dedicated to the citizens of Wet University and to our best interests — the standard for all city employees — and Council members. More specifically, Mr. Ross is talented, discrete, smart, strategic, incredibly hard- working, trustworthy, collaborative, experienced, well -liked by the citizens of West University and by city employees, respected within his profession, a terrific representative of our City with other government agencies, and a great manager of City employees, city services, and the city's finances. i could go on, but if all boils down to the most important point — which is that Mr. Ross is a terrific City Manager for West University, and that terminating him makes absolutely no sense — assuming the merits, rather than some veiled agenda, controls. Seventh, terminating Mr. Ross would greatly harm the City. Not only would be losing one of the best employees this City has ever had, but Mr. Ross also provides needed continuity to the citizens of West University at a time when four council members are new. This is not just about what individual Council members want based on reasons not disclosed. This is about the citizens of West University. We need continuity and stability, at a time when there has been a significant change in city government. Eighth, terminating Mr. Ross is a lousy way to start your tenure. That action is heavy- handed, heartless, baseless, opaque, and authoritarian. That is not how we do things in West University, and we did not elect any of you to act that way. Those of you who approached Mr. Ross seeking his resignation, or who supported and discussed it before you took office, or in violation of the Open Meetings Act, have been reckless. Each of you will be even more reckless if you vote to terminate him, or pressure him to resign. Each of you, in your first few weeks in office, 5of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 have already violated your promise to the citizens of West University to act transparently on their behalf, instead of your own. You know, and everyone else knows, that the whole thing smells. It will be a sad day for West University, and a very sad commentary on this Council, if you persist in seeking Mr. Ross' termination/forced resignation. I request that you withdraw the request that Mr. Ross resign or that he submit his resignation, and that you remove the issue of Mr. Ross' termination/resignation from the Council agenda. I further request that you stop wasting everyone's time, turn your attention to something meaningful that actually benefits the citizens of West University you swore to serve, and allow Mr. Ross to get back to doing the job that he does so well. Debora Connelly, 4125 Coleridge, wrote: The purpose of my message to you today is to let you know how disappointed and troubled i am by the actions of new city council members to oust Michael Ross. From my resident perspective, the idea that Michael Ross has been anything less than a stellar performer in his role of City Manager is preposterous. I believe Michael has led West U through often complicated, and undoubtably controversial, growth and expansion, playing a key role in making West U the desirable and valuable community it is today. I, for one, do not want West U to lose Michael Ross, nor his experience and professional leadership. As a tax payer, 1 do not want my tax dollars used to pay Michael Ross to leave. I do not want my tax dollars used to pay an attorney to negotiate the severance terms of Michael Ross. I do not want my tax dollars used to hire a search firm to find a new City Manager. I DO want city council representation that is professional, transparent, thoughtful, objective, and representative of what is good for our entire community, NOT irrational actions that are personal vendettas. It is apparent certain new city council members are threatened by Michael Ross and his good work and this behavior should not be acceptable to anyone in West U. Susan, I am not able to attend Thursday morning's meeting to express my concerns in person to city council so ask that, through this communication, you represent my thoughts on the matter. You have a troublingly difficult job but I know you are up for it and I appreciate what you do. Thank you. Joni Hruska Ficheter, 3733 Arnold, wrote: Dear Mayor and City Council, It is with great frustration that 1 write this letter. The personal vendetta by certain West U citizens who've been elected to keep our city's best interest at heart is truly disheartenincr1 City Manager Michael Ross has served our city well for many years and he truly does put our citizens and their best interests first. i have worked very closely with Michael for roughly 15 years, first as the long -time chair of Friends of West University Parks Place Fund + as an Auxiliary board member of West University Little League and Challenger Founder + Southwest Football League board member + active West U Elementary PTO and volunteer and now as I continue to serve our community in numerous ways. During this time, 1 have not only worked with Michael on Park Lovers Ball, Fathers & Flashlights, city garage sales, and utilizing the huge sums raised to renovate and enhance our parks and green spaces but also on such major tasks as the WULL rebuild, renovations, and annual city partnership, Challenger Opening Day with Secret Service and all that went along with our Former First Lady Barbara Bush's attendance, WUE playgrounds and other projects, and Southwest Football League interactions. In every instance, Michael and his staff have bent over backwards to make these partnerships and projects hugely successful for the betterment of our entire community. Michael and staff are accessible, forthright, accommodating, and represent our city with pride, expertise, and compassion. 6of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 I have seen Michael firsthand dealing with neighbors' requests that are sometimes truly more like unreasonable demands and each time, he has skillfully navigated the issue and found a solution that everyone could work with. During city emergencies, from storms and floods to a variety of issues, Michael has managed city staff through rough waters without undue headaches and heartaches. Michael does not lose his "cool" even when dealing with hotheads who turn simple matters into tremendous issues. He works hard to keep the peace without letting his own opinions enter the picture. Our city services from trash pick -up to street cleaning to parks and rec are all running smoothly thanks to our city manager. Each department goes above and beyond to accommodate our neighbors from extending a little extra help to our seniors to making sure our streets are safe and our parks are beautiful. I have heard that someone has expressed interest in outsourcing some of our city services and i think that is a huge mistake. The personalized services that we currently enjoy will become extinct. The safety and protection we feel will go by the wayside. We all like to joke that West U is like the TV shows Mayberry RFD where the worst crime is as insignificant as a gum wrapper in the street and Cheers where everyone knows your name. Truthfully, i feel BLESSED to live in West U where people like Michael Ross make sure of life's simple things. To me, we should be thanking Michael for his great service to our fine city, which he has helped make even better. It has been an honor and privilege to work along -side Michael in our hometown. It is appalling to me that instead of rewarding Michael for a job well done, it is being suggested that we "buyout" his contract for a very substantial sum because of petty personal issues. I have very rarely voiced a negative opinion about anything in West U but this is completely unacceptable and an unwise use of city budget dollars. Please know that I support Michael and our entire city staff in all that they do as they are one of the main reasons our hometown is exactly that... HOME! Richard C. Kellogg, Jr., 2716 University, wrote: To City Councilmembers Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, and Turner, West University Place Lady and Gentlemen — i write to protest the spirit, and perhaps the letter, of the open meeting law you broke by meeting in secret to engineer the dismissal of City Manager Michael Ross. Whatever Mr. Ross's abilities — and I express no opinion on these — railroading him out of this crucial position without public input or explanation to your constituents makes farcical your recent campaign platform of transparency. I now two of you personally, and I had thought you would have known better than to behave in this peremptory way. By long tradition, West University has been above this kind of cheap and easy political behavior. There is no reason l can think of to set our tradition of honest, open dealing aside, and as you begin your terms as councilmembers, i urge you to adhere to the principles that have made our city a beacon of good government. Robby Winston, President, West University Little League, wrote: Dear Mayor and City Council, On behalf of more than 4,000 players and parents involved West University Little League, I would like to strongly endorse the continued employment of Michael Ross as City Manager. The relationship between WULL and the City of West University Place has been instrumental in providing young boys and girls the opportunity to participate in Little League baseball. Mr. Ross has been directly involved in nurturing that relationship to ensure that all sides are treated fairly. 7of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 With more than 100 volunteers, we at WULL appreciate the City's support of our organization which is led by Mr. Ross. If you need proof, just step outside and see the smiles on the faces of young baseball players on almost any given evening. Thank you for your time, and thank you for your continued support of Michael Ross as City Manager. There were no other letters to be read into record. Councilmember Kelly spoke to thank those that spoke and wrote in and said Council does value the input and will take the comments into consideration during further discussion on the matter. He said there are four attorneys on Council, who have all taken oaths to uphold the laws of the State of Texas and the Charter of West University Place. He said this Council will handle this personnel manner in accordance with Texas State law, the City Charter and the rules of this Council. Councilmember Reilly said he also appreciates all the comments, which reflect a lot of things he has thought about with respect to this issue. He said despite the many comments about the Open Meetings Act he is quite familiar with the Act, as well as the need for transparent decision - making in government. He said he was one of the main proponents of more transparency with respect to the prior Council's decision regarding the Super Block designation, the City Facilities Master Plan, the decision to move the Maintenance Facility to Dincans and the cost to the City of engaging the land swap transactions with West U Baptist Church. Councilmember Reilly said one of the main reasons he urged the prior Council to deliberate more in public regarding those issues is that it would enhance good decision- making by the Council to have that public discussion. He said it is quite different from decisions about personnel matters, and like large companies, decisions about terminating senior management slowly and publicly are not beneficial to the executive, to the morale of the other employees, and it's not the best idea for attracting good replacement candidates. Councilmember Reilly said there is a reason why big companies make those decisions and said he thinks this type of process applies to the city, as well. He said he has three questions for those folks who want this to be a long and drawn out public process: Would it beneficial for Michael Ross; would it be good for the morale of the remaining city staff and for Michael's ability to manage staff during the process; and would it help the City attract the best replacement candidates? He said these are things that have to be thought about in deciding whether or not to handle the issue publicly or in private as is permitted by State law. 2. Offer to City Manager to Tender Resianation Matters related to request by Councilmembers Brennan Reilly and Burt Ballanfant made to City Manager Michael Ross that he tenders his resignation in exchange for a sum certain as well as other terms to be negotiated. Discussion of amounts offered, terms discussed and reasons for such action. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Councilmember Reilly spoke to say that under Rule 35 [of the Council Rules of Procedure] he moved to consider Agenda Items 5 through 7 before Agenda Item 2. Councilmember Kelly seconded the motion. Mayor Sample stated that she would like to discuss this item now and Councilmember Reilly called for the end of discussion and for a vote under Rule 32 of Council's Rules and Procedure. Mayor Sample called for a vote. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner Noes: Sample 8of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 Absent: None Mayor Sample pointed out that according to the Rules, the presiding officer can leave open discussion after a call for the vote if he or she feels there is a matter that still needs to be stated. City Attorney Petrov clarified that Rule 23 of Council Procedures states "except as provided by Rule 33, a call for the vote shall not close discussion if any member of the Council still wishes to be heard or the presiding officer determines that the continued participation of others would be helpful to the Council." Councilmember Reilly said it states "as provided by Rule 33 ", but he believes that it is a typographical error and should refer to Rule 32. Under Rule 23, Mayor Sample moved to continue hearing comments regarding Item 2. Councilmember Reilly appealed the Mayor's decision as the previous motion was to cut off the debate and to call for a vote, which passed; so, therefore there is no longer any discussion regarding the matter. Mayor Kelly seconded the motion. Councilmember Reilly said a vote was made to reorder the agenda items and Council should move forward with the agenda items in the order in which they've been reordered. After further brief discussion, it was confirmed that Mayor Sample was not wishing to speak on Agenda Item 2, but rather Agenda Item 5, which was the next item due to the reorder of the Agenda. See Agenda Item 5 for discussion /action. After taking Agenda Items 5 and 6 out of order, action resumed with this item, with items 3 and 4 to follow. Mayor Sample withdrew this agenda item. 3. City Manager Succession Plan Matters related to any desired action related to the process for replacement of the West University Place City Manager. Discuss and identify open and transparent process for hiring a city manager, if such replacement is deemed necessary, including, but not limited to retention of a search firm, forms of citizen input and citizen panel. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Mayor Sample said she is not requesting a vote, resignation or termination of the city manager, it succession plan, i.e. an interim city manager and urged the use of a search firm. but thinks if this Council is going to accept a should not move ahead without some type of if looking for a new city manager, she strongly Councilmember Reilly said the City still has a city manager and so until such time that he resigns or retires he would prefer to put this off at this time. Councilmember Ballanfant said Council should get through Monday night before taking on succession tasks. Councilmember Tumer agreed. No further action taken. 9of14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 4. Additional Employment Counsel Matters related to retaining additional legal counsel over and above specialized employment counsel already retained by West University Place to analyze and advise Council regarding employment agreement. Discussion of reasons for engagement of additional counsel, qualifications necessary for attorney negotiating executive employment matters for the city of West University Place, and identifying interview process for hiring such counsel, if such action is deemed necessary. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Mayor Sample withdrew this item. With Agenda Items 5 and 6 taken out of order, Council moved to Agenda Item 8. See Item 8 for discussion /action. 5. Special Legal Counsel Matters related to retaining special legal counsel to analyze and advise Council regarding the City Manager's employment agreement, to consult with Council regarding the same, and to assist Council in implementing changes to the same. Recommended Action: Discuss and take any desired action. Councilmember Reilly asked that Richard Rothfelder come forward to present his proposal to serve as special legal council with respect to the matters discussed in this agenda item. Mr. Rothfelder spoke to say he takes no position on any policy issues and said he has been asked to come before Council to address a request for a potential engagement to advise the Council should it make a decision on the termination or resignation of Michael. He said should that occur, he can advise the Council on Michael's employment contract, the terms on his severance, and advise Council on the amount and means for funding that severance. Mr. Rothfelder proposed a fixed fee of $5,000.00. Councilmember Reilly moved to retain Mr. Rothfelder as special counsel to the Council for the purposes set forth on the agenda and on the terms as described by Mr. Rothfelder. Mayor Pro Tern Kelly seconded the motion. Before a vote, Mayor Sample made the following statement for the record: "I would like to state that I object to hiring a special employment counsel before discussing the reason we are hiring this counsel, which is apparently to terminate or force the resignation of our long -term city manager. It's putting the cart before the horse. I am disturbed that as a new council our first substantive voting item is to take an action that so affects the orderly manner of how this city is run. My desire as mayor was to work as a team with the elected council for the benefit of the entire community, not to push a personal agenda. Historically, coming to Council with a personal agenda has served neither the city nor the councilmember who has an agenda well. This isn't the way I wish we'd started. From what I understand, three (3) days after the new mayor and council were sworn in, two councilmembers, Brennan Reilly and Burt Ballanfant, went to Michael Ross, our city manager, and asked him to tender his resignation. They offered him the terms of his contract which is a year's salary, $225,000, plus his vacation and sick leave." At this point, Councilmember Reilly interjected to state he believes Mayor Sample's comments were out of order. He said discussion on Item 2 had already been closed. Mayor Sample said she is stating her reasons for her objection to hiring a special counsel and asked City Attorney Petrov if she is allowed to speak on this issue. 10 of 14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 City Attorney Petrov said any councilmember should be allowed to speak to the agenda, but the comments have to be germane to the agenda item. Councilmember Reilly asked City Attorney Petrov if Mayor Sample's comments about him and Councilmember Ballanfant germane to Item 2 or Item 5. City Attorney Petrov said if the comments are viewed in context, or if the mayor is stating her reasons why she is not in favor of hiring a special counsel at this point in time, then, yes they can be considered germane. Mayor Sample continued her comments and began from the top of the paragraph: "From what I understand, three (3) days after the new mayor and council were sworn in, two councilmembers, Brennan Reilly and Burt Ballanfant, went to Michael Ross, our city manager, and asked him to tender his resignation. They offered him the terms of his contract which is a year's salary, $225,000, plus his vacation and sick leave. All of these items together appear to push the severance amount close to $300,000. We need to do what's best for the City and the current actions are not fulfilling this goal. Like him or not, Michael Ross has built an effective management team that provides superior service..." At this point, Councilmember Reilly spoke to say that Mayor Sample's comments are not germane. Mayor Sample said they are germane to the topic as she is stating the reasons for objecting to hiring employment counsel. Councilmember Reilly said Council needs to follow its own rules and procedures; so, he objected because he felt the mayor's comments were not germane. Mayor Sample said her comments are germane, but Councilmember Reilly appealed. Councilmember Kelly seconded the motion. MOTION FAILED. Ayes: Kelly, Reilly Noes: Sample, Ballanfant, Turner Absent: None With the vote in favor of Mayor Sample, she continued with her comments for the record "We need to do what is best for the City and the current actions are not fulfilling that goal. Like him or not, Michael Ross has built an effective management team that provides superior services that the citizens want and expect. We're potentially spending around $300,000, an unbudgeted $300,000, to get rid of the very person that's managed the city well. Then we are proposing to pay a special counsel to negotiate this so- called deal adding to our costs. With Michael being pension eligible, we can also be paying a pension, severance, search firm fees and, finally, a new city manager salary all at the same time, which could bring our out of pocket costs closer to $500,000. We don't have that in our budget and t don't know what we are going to cut. We could raise taxes, but 1 don't think anyone voted for that. Something we all know voters don't approve of In addition, 1 object to taking this agenda item out of order. We were all elected to provide a transparent process for our residents. They don't expect that... they demand it and they should. That's what this published agenda as I wrote it attempts to do. Moving to consider agenda items out of order is clearly an attempt to circumvent this goal of transparency. i understand you have more votes here, but what 1 question is all of your goals and steps to meet these goals came about. it seems that every one of you has been in discussion to devise this specific well - defined plan, which does not pass any reasonable persons smell test. 11 of 14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 It's totally inappropriate to take action in closed session where there are already appearances of impropriety on how the decision was made in the first place. if I heard anything in this last election is that people want transparency, input into major decisions facing the city and fiscal responsibility. Everything that is happening here violates these very promises that were made to the citizens and residents of West U. If Council has already predetermined to terminate the city manager, why have they chosen this particular attorney for employment matters? i understand that all four members of our Council have solicited, interviewed, and decided on an amount of pay Richard Rothfelder for the position of special counsel to negotiate the termination they have already proposed to the city manager. To me this is particularly strange considering Mr. Rothfelder is a good general litigator, but his main practice is defending outdoor advertising companies (billboards). He does not hold himself out to be an employment attorney and that is not his area of practice. West University Place already has an attorney it retains to handle city employment matters. Susan Bickley who is a partner at Blank Rome, a national recognized firm, is widely known as one of the best employment attorney's in Texas. Pursuant to the suggestion of certain councilmembers requesting his resignation, the current city manager has retained the services of another well- respected, experienced employment attorney himself. My question to the rest of you, we are hiring one of the best attorneys in town to handle all of our other employment matters, why would we use someone less qualified to handle the termination of executive level staff. I'm not sure how the City of West University can justify hiring someone who's not an employment specialist to handle the termination of a well - represented executive level employee. I don't think that employment counsel for West U should be some back -door, brother -in -law deal, which is where this vote currently appears to be headed. Finally, one can't finish this full discussion of hiring an employment counsel without mentioning the importance of a city manager succession plan. A rushed succession plan pushes an unvetted city manager into a position of great responsibility. If Council decides to move forward with termination or request for resignation, I don't think we should do so without a firm plan for succession and transition. Our Assistant City Manager is retirement eligible in August and plans on leaving by January at the latest. We have three other department heads that are retirement eligible. Letting our city manager go without a well thought out succession plan in place could leave us lacking institutional knowledge that is integral to a well -run city. This is something all of us should know to avoid as prudence stewards of our municipal government. I wasn't asked to provide any input with respect to the decision to terminate the city manager and until now I didn't have firm plan in place as to how I envisioned succession of executive staff i would think in a perfect world, since our current city manager has a near future retirement date of 2 to 4 years, were about to have an opening for assistant city manager, the most judicious approach would be to search and hire an assistant city manager that could be vetted and trained to take over when Michael decides to retire. If for some reason we do not have this perfect scenario, I would absolutely insist that West University retain a search firm. We are a city of the highest caliber, with an annual budget of over $40,0000,000 and leaving the search and identification process up to individual councilmembers sets the stage for small town cronyism and the appearance of impropriety, which we all agree is not what the residents want. In closing, I know that half of you are new to city government and all of you are riding high on the wave of a recent election victory. Sometimes the adrenalin rush and wave of emotion from such a success could cloud the vision of even the most seasoned, prudent person. I hope you take a moment to think and reflect and what all your proposed actions represent and consider stepping back and working through a responsible choice in an open manner. Thank you. Councilmember Ballanfant spoke to say that Susan Oshfeldt accurately represented what the people in this city were saying as he was out campaigning and he thinks the previous council must have known that was going to be a legitimate issue because they put into place a retirement contract of separation that would require for these sums of money to be paid. He said he would never support a golden parachute for a municipal employee under any circumstance, but this council has to live with the circumstances of what the previous council put in place. 12 of 14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 Mayor Pro Tern Kelly said he would like to amplify what Councilmember Ballanfant said. He said what is being seen here today is very procedural and the main reason Council is going through this is to protect Mike Ross. He said Councilmember Reilly mentioned it earlier that it is not beneficial for Mike Ross to have a lot of this stuff discussed in public, which is exactly why personnel matters are an exception to the Open Meetings Act. He said what the mayor has done right now is purely political, which is not what this ought to be about and said she had the audacity to bring up the cost of the severance, because she is one of those that voted for doubling the city manager's severance. Mayor Pro Tern Kelly said Mayor Sample also voted to ratify any actions, authorized or not, that the city manager may have made, which also might get into reasons as to why there is no cause mentioned in any of this. He said Council's whole purpose is to get this issue to a situation where it's very graceful, professional and well - handled in accordance with normal personnel practices. He said this is why this Council was elected and the vast majority of those who voted recognized that two former mayors were running and they were trusted to handle this professionally and get this City back on track, which is what they are doing. He said there is nothing shady or illegal going on and he takes affronts to the mayor accusing him and Council of illegal acts. Councilmember Reilly spoke to correct a few things said by Mayor Sample. He said first Richard Rothfelder's firm does have employment expertise as his partner practices primarily in the area of employment law and has more than enough technical expertise to advise Council regarding these issues. He said the City is hiring the firm, not the man, so it will get the services of Richard and his entire firm on this matter. He said, secondly, just as important as technical expertise, is the ability to handle a matter and Richard Rothfelder can handle this matter for the city very efficiently and in a way that is beneficial for both the city and for Michael, which is why Richard Rothfelder and his firm is being recommended for this matter. Mayor Sample spoke to say that it is important to read the contract with the city manager that is being discussed, because the prior Council did not insert a golden parachute. She said Michael came to City Council when he started employment with 12- months severance, which Bob and Burt should know. He was able to get that if he was terminated within the first 6 months of employment and that the only thing the prior council changed was that he would get a severance within the first 12 months of employment and would still get 12 months before and after, so last she checked, the first 3 days of employment after an election is within 6 months; so, no matter when this was done, he would get a 12 -month severance. She said it would be better if the facts were known before accusations were made. At this time a vote was made on the motion by Councilmember Reilly, and seconded by Councilmember Kelly, to retain Mr. Rothfelder as special counsel to the council for the purposes set forth on the agenda and on the terms as described by Mr. Rothfelder. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner Noes: Sample Absent: None 6. Closed Executive Session Matter related to a closed executive session in accordance with Sections 551.074 and 551.071 of the Texas Government Code. At 10:24 a.m., Mayor Pro Tern Kelly moved to suspend the regular meeting and move into executive session. Councilmember Ballanfant seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner 13 of 14 City Council Minutes, June 18, 2015 Noes: None Absent: None Executive Session closed at 11:35 a.m. 7. Reconvene into Open Session Matters related to any desired action resulting from discussions held in closed executive session. At 11:40 a.m., Councilmember Turner moved to resume the regular session. Mayor Pro Tem Kelly seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner Noes: None Absent: None Meeting resumed with Agenda Item 2. See Agenda Item 2 for discussion /action. 8. Adjourn Meeting With no further action before Council, Councilmember Ballanfant moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:45 a.m. Councilmember Reilly seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED. Ayes: Noes: Absent: A. Lenz, City Sample, Kelly, Ballanfant, Reilly, Turner None ,e. ' s 1n e 14 of 14 Date prove