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Item B Q.. Ln .... .. .... o 'It" o ('I'l o C :J .., 12:15 noon to 1:00 p.m. Lunch for Candidates and Commission at the (or the Harvey Governmental Center) Full Commission Interviews at the Harvey Government Center, 1200 Truman Avenue 1:00 p.m. Review Procedures with Commission 1: 15 p.m. Shaun Carey S 1 :45 p.m, George Hunt 2: 15 p.m. Donna Landero;r 2:45 p.m. David Bulock Candidates will complete a brief writing exercise either before or after their interviews. c .... E "C a::: o u I,/l ..., l. CIJ ..c o Q! ....J I,/l CIJ E III .., I Time I McCoy I Nelson I Neugent ! Rice I Spehar 1 8:45 to 9:25 a.m. I David Bullock Shaun Carey George Hunt Donna Landeros Bye 9:25 to 10:05 Bye David Bullock Shaun Carey George Hunt Donna Landeros 10:05 to 10:45 Donna Landeros Bye David Bullock Shaun Carey George Hunt 10:45 to 10:55 Break 10:55 to 11:35 George Hunt Donna Landeros Bye David Bullock Shaun Carey 1 1 : 35 to 12: 1 5 Shaun Carey George Hunt Donna Landeros Bye David Bullock 'It" 'It" Ln 'It" I C\J 0') C\J I Ln o ('I'l N . Q.. June 4, 2004 1 :00 p.rn. to 2 p.m. Candidates will meet the Monroe County Senior Staff at the County Administrator's office at the Gato Building, 1100 Simonton Street, Suite 205 in Key West 3:30 p.rn. to 5:00 p.m Candidates meet with local realtors to discuss the Keys and living accommodations, Candidates will be picked up at Grand Key Resort in Key West. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p,m. Reception for Candidates and spouses at the Doubletree Grand Key Resort. Attire is business casual June 5, 2004 One-on-One Interviews with the Commissioners at the Harvey Governmental Center Writing Sample Please select one of the following two questions and spend the next 20 to 25 minutes explaining how you would deal with the situation. Please note that the point of this exercise is not to display brilliant analytical thinking but rather to demonstrate that you can write in a coherent, grammatically correct manner. 1. You have been hired as the Mazula County administrator. John Smith is your department director for the Utilities Department and when you are introduced to him, he mentions that he plays golf every Saturday morning with one of your county commissioners, Bill Jones. You later learn that John and his wife play bridge every Wednesday evening with another of your commissioners, Fred Pounds, and his wife. After about three months, you determine that John Smith is incompetent. How do you handle the situation? 2. You have been hired as the Round Key County administrator. After two weeks, your administrative assistant, Peter Marshall, tells you that Bill Howard, the assistant county administrator, spends the two hours each day after lunch in his office behind closed doors with his administrative assistant. Martha Pinske. The staff is beginning to talk. How do you handle the situation? RECEIVED , -JUN 1~2004 \ l.___- ('0IP,'!TIY An, MIPcil(')~1 PATOR \ }. . ; \ ,I.' I, ,1 \ , ,~ I \, MEMORANDUM To: Honorable Mayor Nelson and County Commission Members From: George Hunt, County Administrator Candidate Date: June 5, 2004 Subject: Written Exercise In an effort to resolve the situation involving Mr. Howard's conduct or perception of conduct between himself and his administrative assistant, Martha Pinske, I have independently determined that the facts as described to me are accurate. This has necessitated a discussion between myself and Mr. Howard. Along with a letter of reprimand that will be placed in his permanent personnel file I have prescribed counseling sessions with our Employee Assistance Program Coordinator, Dr. Courtney. I can assure you there will be no further inappropriate behavior. If you should have any questions regarding my decision on this matter, please feel free to stop by and we will discuss it further. cc. Executive Recruiter Personnel Director Memorandum: TO: Colin Baenziger FROM: Shaun Carey RE: Written Exercise Response Question 1: Recommendation: The Administrator has a duty to ensure the performance of County Employees meets or exceeds the established Performance Standards. At this early point I would . begin to take an active coaching role with the employee on the expected performance with a plan to document the efforts made to improve performance. Should the employee not begin to make the desired changes in performance, I would need to begin the progressive disciplinary path to ensure the employees rights and those of the administration are fairly protected should termination be necessary. The presence of a friendship with a political figure is a factor to be considered, but is best managed by following administrative law and County policy. Alternatives: Consult with Human Resources to ensure County Personnel Administrative Regulations are in place to protect the rights of the employee and to County. This may require input from the County Attorney. Question 2: Recommendation: The Administrator is aware of potentially damaging administrative conduct by a key County employee. The situation can have very serious consequences to both the organization and to the employees. I would seek a private meeting with the Assistant and inquiry into the reasons for the closed door meetings as these activities are occurring in a public setting. Further action may be needed depending upon the fmdings of the meeting or should additional information become available. Alternatives: Some organizations have Administrative Policy that require an independent investigation of any potential Illegal Harassment issue. I would consult with the Human Resources Director to determine County practice. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding my responses. Question #2. Since the Assistant County Administrator is a direct report to the County Administrator I have clear responsibility to see the situation is looked into and appropriate action taken if that is warranted. First I would notice if indeed the Assistant is in his office behind closed doors with an assistant for two hours each day. If our offices are in the same location that should be easy to determine. I would ask our Human Resources to consult with me regarding how to go about investigating this issue. For the most part I have found HR staffs trained in these work place matters and helpful in their advice. If appropriate I would have HR conduct the investigation. If HR is not able to conduct the investigation I would note the times this occurred and approach the Assistant County Administrator about the problem privately, giving him an opportunity to explain what is going on. If the explanation given appears less than forthright I would remind him our actions at work are a reflection of our values and we must be aware and concerned about both impropriety and the appearance of impropriety. I would further remind him that his actions are having a detrimental affect on the workplace and ask him to stop. Depending on his response I may have to remind him that he is putting himself and the organization at risk by what appears to be inappropriate behavior. I would remind him that he is on the public's time in the public building and as a public employee has a certain behavior ethic called for in the personnel policies. Hopefully this discussion would result in his taking corrective behavior and the situation would be corrected. If it persists I would step up the investigation involving HR to determine what policies may be violated. There would be memos issued at the appropriate times and formal personnel actions taken which could ultimately result in discipline or dismissal. If the investigation revealed he was not spending this time behind closed doors I would talk with the administrative assistant who reported the problem and let him know I have found no evidence of his allegations. I would further ask him to describe how long this has been going on and when he first noticed it. I would also ask if he has heard others state they are uncomfortable. If there is no corroborating evidence and no other employee has directly or indirectly expressed concern I would ask the reporting person if he concerns about the target of his allegations or the adminassistant who was alleged to be involved. His response would further guide any 'additional action. This may require some additional follow-up or it may be able to be left at a discussion. D~l~ Donna Landeros #2- I would observe Bill Howard's daily activities myself before doing or saying anything about the concerns raised by Peter. I would caution Peter about confidentiality and my expectations that he would not share the concerns with anyone else. I would want to verify the pattern of behavior myself. If! didn't see any cause for concern I would quietly pay attention to what other employees were saying so that I could understand what other things might be causing the office gossip. If I did observe the extended, after lunch, conversations I would have a frank discussion with Bill about perceptions, my expectations and the legal issues his conduct was raising. I would make sure that Bill understood that the practice needed to stop immediately and that I expected him to be a role model for the entire organization. If the conduct continued I would follow up with progressive discipline until the problem was resolved.