HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 1982-04-20 MinutesCITY OF MIAMI
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APRIL 20, 1982
OF MEETING HELD ON
(SPECIAL)
EVALUATION OF HOWARD V. GARY AS
CITY MANAGER
PREPARED BY THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
CITY HALL
RALPH G.. ONGIE
CITY CLERK
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CITYI ISSIa MIAMI, &DA
rSOMUT'10'NOR0,
(SPECIAL) SUCT April 20, 1982 PAM� ,
EVALUATION OF HOWARD V. GARY AS CITY MANAGER:
A MOTION APPROVING A SALARY INCREASE FOR CITY
MANAGER HOWARD V. GARY, EFFECTIVE TODAY, IN A
PERCENTAGE EQUAL TO THAT RECENTLY GIVEN TO THE
CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY CLERK.
M-82-327 1 1-23
0
MINUTES OF SPECIAL MEETING OF THE
CITY COMMISSION OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
On the 20th day of April, 1982, the City Commission of Miami, Florida
let at its regular meeting place in said City in Special Session to consider
business of public import, namely the evaluation of H. V. Gary as City Manager.
The meeting was called to order at 1t10 P.M., by Mayor Maurice Ferre
with the following members of the Commission found to be presents
ALSO PRESENT:
Commissioner Mi]ler.J. Dawkins
Commissioner Demetrio Perez, Jr.
Commissioner J. L. Plummer, Jr.
Vice Mayor Joe Carollo
Mayor Maurice A. Ferre
Howard V. Gary, City Manager
George F. Knox, City Attorney
Matty Hirai, Assistant City Clerk
Robert E. Tingley, Administrative Assistant
An invocation was delivered by Mayor Ferre who then led those present in
a pledge of allegiance to the flag.
Mayor Ferre: Ladies & Gentlemen, I know that there are a lot of people here
that have taken time from their busy schedules to be a witness or a partici-
pant in these procedures. I will try to be as courteous and as reasonable as
I possibly can. We do have some rules that we must abide by. In the first
place, I would like to ask all of you to refrain from interfering in the pro-
cess. I think that that is very important that we do establish the fact that
we can rule ourselves in accordance with the proper procedures. These
chambers have had moments of excitement in the past, and I am sure that we
will have moments of excitement in the future. What we are doing here today,
as I said last time, is not a process to fire the City Manager, nor is it a
process that deals with anything other than a yearly evaluation which comes
about due to a contractural arrangement that we went into with Howard Gary
in April of last year. And what we are doing now is going through the pro-
cess of evaluation. The evaluation is something that has been established by
other jurisdictions, including Metropolitan Dade County, and Broward County.
There is a very well thought out and a very well presented pamplet wnicn the
members of the Commission have, which is entitled "Evaluation of the Chief
Administrator", and it is put out by the International City Management Asso-
ciation. We have basically adapted that format and we have all - each member
of this Commission - had a private session with the City Manager. In my case,
I met with Mr. Gary on five different occasions during this process. The things
that the evaluation criteria is based on is leadership, professional integrity,
administrative skills, stability of performance, fiscal management, communica-
tions with the Commission, relations with the public, inter -governmental re-
lations and overall summary of performance. Now, I think the way to proceed,
is first I will open up by asking the Manager if he wishes to add anything,
or make any kind of a statement at this time. We secondly will go by, I
guess it is like we usually do, by seniority and in our questions, after we
have gone through the whole question and answer period, I think each member of
thin Commission should state his evaluation, however he wishes to do it, and
then we should conclude the process. Now, there are people here who wish to
speak. A very good friend of mine, who a short while ago came up to me and
said, "I hope you do not permit a circus atmosphere to function, and certain-
ly it is not my intention, nor I am sure, is it the intention of anybody to
permit that type of...
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Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Mayor, may I....
Mayor Ferre: Let me finish, and then I will recognize you. Let me finish,
please, and then I will recognize you, sir. Now, it is not my intention to
permit interruptions, or to permit screaming, or confrontations of any sort.
I do feel that since this is such a basic emotional issue in this community,
that I think that I would be remiss, as the Mayor, and I think this Commission
would be remiss, if we did not permit a certain amount of discussion from mem-
bers of the community who may have something valuable to say. I hope that we
do not get into offensive language, and if we get into that, then I am going
to stop whoever that person is for making that kind of an offensive statement.
We can all, including the members of this Commission, express our positions and
our opinions without getting into an emotional negative type of a confronta-
tion.
Mr. Smith: Mr. Mayor...
Mayor Ferre: Yes? I am going to recognize Commissioner Dawkins and then I am
going to recognize Mr. Howard Gary and we are going to then begin the process.
Mr. Smith: I'd ask that I be recognized after Mr. Gary.
Mayor Ferre: Alright.
Mr. Smith: For inquiries only.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, fine.
Mr. Dawkins: I'll save mine; I pass.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, Mr. Gary.
Mr. Gary: Mr. Mayor and members of the City Commission, I would like to read a
statement at this time for the record. For the past twelve months, much at-
tention has been devoted to my compensation agreement, especially in terms of
why it exists and what it seeks to accomplish. You may recall that my selec-
tion process was hotly contested; community input was intense and opinions, even
among the Commissioners were sharply divided. This type of lobby process was
unprecedented it the history of the City of Miami. As a result, there was a
sincere feeling in many quarters, including the business, professional and
political communities that the stability of the office of the City Manager
would be enhanced by the establishment of the mechanism which would discourage
precipitous and summary termination of the Manager by the Commission for rea-
sons unrelated to the Manager's professional competence. While I personally
did not necessarily share that view - I need the protection that the compensa-
tion agreement affords me - it was not my view that I needed that protection.
I think that it is important that the compensation agreement specifically state
that the Manager will serve at the pleasure of the Commissioners, and in light
of the fragile majority that voted for my appointment, I felt a legitimate duty
to insure that my family would be provided for in the unlikely event that the
Commission would vote to terminate me summarily. I further recognize that
market forces and economic crisis could make it difficult for me to quickly
find equivalent employment if I was suddenly terminated. In my efforts to
resolve my dilemma, I discovered that many City Managers across the country
shared my concerns to the extent that the International City Management Associa-
tion, which also developed this evaluation brochure, developed a model compensa-
tion agreement precisely for the purpose of providing an orderly readjustment
for those managers who may be dismissed at the will of the governing body. I
might add, that every provision of the compensation agreement has been tested
in the courts for legal sufficiency. After working with you for the past
twelve months, I can advise you that I have every confidence that this City
Commission will evaluate me fairly and objectively and by this process our
working relationship will be strengthened and I am certain that this Commission
would not abuse it's power by discharging me for personal political reasons.
I wish to remove any doubts about my original motives for seeking this compen-
sation agreement. I wish to remove the perception of any appearance of mis-
trust between us. I wish to have us to move positively forward without any
underlying contingent. While I am deeply grateful for the outpouring of sup-
port by those who have strong feelings on this issue, I recognize more than
ever that the people are the ultimate evaluators of all our performance and
that the people's will will be done. Because I believe that the Commission
knows that I have performed capably and conscientiously, and because I do have
ld 112 APR 2 01982
Mr. Gary: (con't) faith in the process of evaluation that you hRve agreed
to, and most importantly, because I wish to achieve peace in the house. I can
now advise you that I will not seek a renewal or extension of my compensation `
agreement, and as a matter of fact, I will relinquish my existing agreement.
I am satisfied that you will continue to provide me the customary benefits
and emoluments of my office, including your policy of providing three
months severance pay for departing appointed officers. Thanks to the people
of the City of Miami and thanks to you, the City Commission, I have all of the
job security I need. I am prepared to proceed with the evaluation.
Mayor Ferre: For the purposes of asking a question.
Mr. Smith: Mr. Mayor, my name is H. T. Smith. In view of the fact that most
of the people here had taken off on April Fool's Day for this evaluation; in
view of the fact that we are here again today and we heard most of your views
already, I am inquiring...
Mayor Ferre: No, you haven't.
Mr. Smith: Excuse me, Mr. Mayor, you said you would't cause any interruption
and I'de appreciate it if you would enforce it with yourself. Thank
you, sir. In view of the fact that many people here have taken off from
their jobs and the public has a right to be heard, the only question is the
time. My inquiry is, could the Mayor, or any Commissioner here, willing to
make a motion that the public be heard first. There are those here who have
other things that they have to do - children out of school; they have jobs to
go back to; and I want to know if there is any Commissioner who is concerned
enough about the public input to hear from the public prior to the evaluation,
by so moving.
Mayor Ferre: Thank you for your statement, Mr. Smith; now we can proceed.
Mr. Dawkins: I would be remiss were I not to take Brother Smith up on his
offer. Knowing that -whatever is said here will not in any way alter my opin-
ion or in any way change my evaluation, I'd make a motion that we hear from
those who wish to speak.
Mayor Ferre: There is a motion, and technically I could not recognize the
motion, but I am not going to do that; I am going to recognize the motion and
again, I am going to say that the Chair has ruled that we will hear from people
after the members of the Commission have had the opportunity to proceed and
do their job. Now, if there is a second to that motion, we will put it to a
vote.
Mr. Perez: I second that motion, Mayor. I think that is a matter of courtesy.
I think that as a matter of courtesy, I would like to have the opportunity to
hear the opinion of the people, but I think you have to limit the time also,
_ because I think that you have to establish the rules, because I know that these
people have to go to work and also maybe have some comnitments,b ut I w oulu like
to establish a time; I would like to make some amendment to the motion of Com-
missioner Dawkins in order to have - what do you think about an hour; do you
think that an hour would be fair?
Mr. Dawkins: Would you say 3 minutes per person? 5 minutes?
Mr. Perez: Yes, but with a limit of an hour.
Mr. Dawkins: I will accept that amendment.
Mr. Perez: Okay, I will make that. motion.
Mayor Ferre: There is a motion and a second. Is there further discussion?
- Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor. Under discussion. This isn't going to be popular,
but I am going to vote against the motion and I want to tell you why. I think
that it is unfair to Mr. Gary for any one of you to speak before the evaluation
is done. I have not spoken, because I want Mr. Gary to present his case. That
is what we are here for. Then, once he has presented his case, and the Mayor
has said he will give you the right to speak, that's when you and I will have
the opportunity to speak. I think it is unfair to Mr. Gary, Mr. Smith; I am
sorry that I disagree with you sir, and I am sure we will in the future, and
I hope there are areas that we will agree on, sir, but I think it is blatantly
so
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Mr. Plutmer: (con't) unfair to have the people speak before they really know
what they are speaking about other than the evaluation, and that's what we are
here for.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, call the roll.
Mr. Carollo: Mr. Mayor, if I may...
Mayor Ferre: Oh, yes sir, I am sorry.
Mr. Carollo: Thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor, I was under the impression all along
that when the Commission talks about evaluating a city manager, whomever that
city manager is, we are talking about the Commission evaluating the City Manager.
To my understanding, the only time that the public evaluates any city official
is at election time, when we are up to vote. At least, to my knowledge, the
only time that I have seen the public evaluate any city official is during the
course of an election. I am happy...sir, let me tell you something. This is
not a Black, Cuban, White, Red, blue, pink issue and anyone who tries to make
it into that is terribly wrong; and I think you had best remember sir, that we
are all Americans, and if I may....
(INAUDIBLE COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE - NOT ON MICROPHONE)
Mr. Carollo; (cont'd) I am very pleased that we have some 300 people here
today. At the same time, I also realize that this is a City of over 400,000
people. Mr. Mayor, there are a lot of people here that I know; some that I
don't know. Some people here that I have had the opportunity to work with
in the past, and I am sure we will work together in the future, and that we
have equal respect for each other. And Mr. Mayor, while most people here I
am sure, want to follow a process that is proper and right, a process that
is fair and that we are going to respect each other. I, for one, am not going
to be in favor, nor am I going to condone any type of action that can only be
construed as anarchy. This country, this city, this state, this county is
governed by certain rules and laws that we all have to abide by. Now, I am
in all in favor of any citizen expressing their opinions, expressing their
right to speak, like it is given to them under the the protection of our
constitution. What I am saying is this; either the City Commission is em-
powered to evaluate the City Manager, or for that matter, evaluate anything
in the City of Miami, and then the public, after that evaluation follows its
course, expresses their opinion, or for the first time in the history of this
City, that process is going to be changed. For the first time in the history
of this City, the public is going to be evaluating something not through the
process of an election. Mr. Mayor, this is my opinion; it is one individual
here; I leave it up to my colleagues in the Commission to decide whatever they
want to do. Mr. Mayor, I, as one member of this Commission, while I am going
to respect the rights - and I will fight for the right of anyone here - am
not going to sit back.and accept any kind of anarchy or any kind of intimida-
tion.
Mayor Ferre: Further discussion. Call the roll.
MOTION DEFEATED. On motion by Commissioner Dawkins and
seconded by Commissioner Perez, the foregoing motion was
defeated by the following vote:
AYES: Commissioner Miller J. Dawkins
Commissioner Demetrio Perez, Jr.
NOES: Commissioner J. L. Plummer, Jr.
Vice -Mayor Joe C:>rollo
Mayor Maurice A. Ferre
Mayor Ferre: Alright, Plummer, we are doing this by seniority. You go first,
Carollo goes next, then Demetrio Perez and Dawkins will go after that.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I would hope that we would allow Mr. Gary the right,
as you did to allow him to make an opening statement - if he wishes to expound
on the very detailed memo that we had presented to us for the last meeting, if
he wishes to expound on that memo any further, I would hope he would have that
opportunity.
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Mayor Ferre: Yes, yes of ccurse. If the Manager wants to, in any way, expand
on the memorandum of March 26th, of course he can do that. He can also, after
you ask questions or make your statements, elaborate in any w.;y that he sees
fit during the proceedings.
Mr. Gary: Mr. Mayor, unless the City Commission wishes me to summarize the
memorandum from me to the City Commission dated March 26th, with regards to
those accomplishments of the City Administration, I do not have anything to
add at this time, and I will be happy to respond to any questions. Primarily,
the memo deals with areas of accomplishment: cable television license negotia-
tions, police recruitment and testing, minority employment in the City, the
fund balance in the City, 6.5 million dollars, a minority vendor program,
which was implemented, improvements in Building & Zoning Departments, improve-
ments in the Finance Department, improvements in affordable housing and hous-
ing rehabilitation, as well as improving the additional police officers in
the City of Miami, plus the favorable bond issue that we just recently sold,
as relates to the fire fighting bonds as well as the parking garage bonds.
There is also some discussion of the code enforcement in Florida as well as the
affirmative action program, in terms of those successes. There may be other
things that the City Commission may wish to raise in terms of inquiry; I'd be
happy to respond to them.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, go ahead.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I like yourself, and other members of this Commission,
have all had the opportunity to read that memorandum. I would like to start
off, Mr. Mayor, by saying that I have said all the way along, and I hope it
will be proven here today, that this evaluation is to be a positive measure.
There is something we have not done in the past; there is something that I think
_ is good, which really in eff ect, is an airing as to what has been done or not
done by the City Manager. No one is perfect; we don't expect the City Manager
to be perfect. Now, I am with you, but I would ask you please, this is not a
popularity contest. You want to applaud afterwards, I'll appreciate that. I
think that what we are doing here today, is giving you, the public; we the
Commission the right to sit back and say "okay, Howard has been there for a
year and here is what he has accomplished, and here are the things that we
think that he didn't accomplish that maybe he should have". So, I think this
process today is a good process. Just remember, Howard sits in that chair
today. The national averages say that the city manager sits in that chair for
2.4 years. George Knox isn't always going to sit in that chair; as a matter of
fact, George is moving on to bigger and better things very shortly, and there
will be someone else replacing George, and I am sure that Mr. Gary someday will
want to move on to maybe bigger and better things, so we are really, in my hope
and desire - we are not really just evaluating an individual, but the chair,
and the position and the authority that that man holds. Really and truthfully,
I don't think I had to read that memorandum, because I lived it; I was here.
_ I was able to see, and I was able to hear and I was able to evaluate almost
each individual item as we lived it day in and day out. I think we have to
remember that the City Manager, whoever he may be, is a man who has almost an
impossible task, and that task is that this Commission is the legislative body, and
they, the administration. This Commission is to set policy as to what is to
be done, and they, the administration, are to carry out that policy. The problem
sometimes comes when one line crosses another; when maybe the City Manager or the
administrative side finds it almost impossible to deal with the policy that has
been set by this Commission, or conversely, when this Commission has set a policy
that the City Administration has difficulty in administering. I think one of the
things that I have seen in Howard Gary is a damn tough negotiator. and that is
what he is here for. Maurice used to say "Nobody ever paid him to be a nice
guy". And I used to always say "Why didn't we get more than our money's worth".
But, what I am really saying to you, I don't think anybody; I don't think even
I expected Mr. Gary to come out with the final product of cable TV as he did
for the benefit of this community. I have seen him in negotiations with water-
front concessions, with leases, dealing with Affirmative Action, dealing with
_ the Police Department, which has been difficult. I don't think any other City
= Manager in the twelve years that I have sat at this seat, has been confronted
with the mass of problems that Mr. Gary has been confronted with, and they seem
to be getting larger every year. Mr. Gary supposedly, and rightfully so, works
for this Commission, but in the final analysis, as we work for the people, so
does Mr. Gary. I think that one of the problems that has arisen in the past,
is the fact that we never saw a City Manager who would get off his duff - and a
lot of those, all of those I considered friends - they wouldn't get out of their
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Mr. Plummer: (con't) duff and go out and meet with the people and Mr. Gary
has done that, and Mr. Gary has been helpful in going out and meeting with
civic organizations and yes, Mr. Gary has in fact, maybe said some things that
are tough in the final analysis to back up, but I don't know one of them in .
which Mr. Gary has gone and pledged support to the people that this Commission
has not backed up and ratified in the final analysis. And that is important;
it says a lot - that it is something that is betterment for this community.
The only fault that I find with Mr. Gary, and I have found it with every
City Manager that has ever sat in that chair; I as an elected official and
supposedly, if you wish, his superior, or boss, or whatever you want to call
it - don't like to read about my city in the newspaper. Ms. Range, you had
that problem. We, the Commission, find it most embarrassing when we are called
by the media and asked "Please comment on this issue", and we can't, because
we don't know. I think, Mr. Gary, it behooves you, sir; it behooves your ad-
ministration to find a way of better communications, better information, the
supplying of information to this Commission. We all know that the problem
when a citizen writes or phones a complaint, by Charter what we have to do,
if it is in the matter of sanitation, we can't pick a phone and call the Sanita-
tion Department and say "Hey, Mrs. Jones has a problem, go see to it, and if
it is legitimate, take care". We can't do that. We have to send a memo to
the City Manager, who in turn sends a memo to the Sanitation, who in turn
analyses the product, who in turn returns to the City Manager, who in turn re-
turns to us, and that is a process of two, three and sometimes four weeks, yet
the citizen is expecting of their elected official an answer; and they wanted
an answer an hour ago, much less four weeks from now! I think that we have
got to find a way, Mr. Manager, to break down that bureaucracy, and I think it
behooves your office to help and find a way. I am very much aware, and I am
sure that every one of my colleagues here, of that fine line between trying to
be helpful and interfering. I don't think any of us want to interfere, but I
think there has got to be better communication between the Commission and the
administrative policy. I will say to you, Mr. Gary, I am pleased with your
twelve months in office. I think you should continue; I would hope that at
no time you become complacent after this evaluation, assuming that you come
out of it as I feel that you will, with any kind of a misconception, "Well, I
am glad that is over, now let's sit back and do nothing", because I want to
tell you, Mr. Gary, if you take that attitude, which I don't think you will,
that at the next evaluation, if I am here, this vote won't be for you. I am
pleased with your twelve months performance; you don't get all "A's" on your
report card today, but you get a very high passing grade, and I am pleased
with your performance. Thank you.
Mayor Ferre: Joe.
Mr. Carollo: Howard, I am not going to give a speech; my dear colleague did.
What I will do is go over just a few things that I think would be good exam-
ples of what I have been complaining about and what we have discussed person-
ally. This memorandum from Police Chief Kenneth Harms to you dated February
1st of '82. According to the stamp, your office received it February 3rd of
'82. A few months later, on March 31st of 182, after I kept requesting and
requesting a copy of it, is when I finally received a copy of it. You recall,
this has to do with my suggestion to the Police Chief that we would give vehi-
cles to take home to any police officer that lives within the City of Miami
to increase a higher percent of visibility of police vehicles in our streets,
something that I think is of vital interest to this whole community. Why it
took two months to finally get a copy of this, especially when the excuse that
I was given was that you needed additional information, and in fact, the in-
formation that I received was the same information that you had for two months,
is beyond me. Another brief example, a memorandum from my office dated to you
February 9th of 182 - citizen complaint - a few months later, March 30th, of
'82 I finally get a response. It is just a few of the complaints that I have
in this area. There have been a lot of allegations and things thrown back and
forth, especially in the heat of some past political elections about this guy
and that guy - he voted for this contractor, they were friends of his; he voted
for that other contractor, they were friends of another friend of his - but,
there is one contract that I do know stinks, and what the City is getting in
return is nowhere near what we should be getting. If I could have been in the
private sector and getting this contract, I would have retired two years being
a middle man, thanks to the City of Miami. I am talking about the New World
Marinas Inc. management agreement. I think you know what I am referring to,
and I certainly don't have any friends that have any part of this contract.
I don't know if everyone else here could say the same. When we first had to
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learn of the budget surplus that the Commission had through the Miami Herald.
You recall, sometime later, we had a hearing at*the Commission level, and I re-
quested of yourself, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Rosencrantz, how come the Herald had to
print this; how come the Commission was never informed of the surplus before
we have to learn of it through that paper? I was told that it was because you
had just found out about it the day before. When I requested of Mr. Rosen-
crantz and Mr. Garcia had they known about it much prior to ):.at, I was told
"no". Well, additional information that I requested and was able to dig through,
I found out that on January 29, 1982 - this is after I am told by Mr. Garcia
and Mr. Rosencrantz there was no communication between themselves about that
surplus - January 29,of 182, weeks, weeks before, you and your administration
admitted to us that you know that there was a surplus. Here is a letter signed
by Mr. Garcia to Mr. Richard Raphael, to New York, talking about the surplus
with a carbon copy to Mr. Rosencrantz. I don't know if what is happened is
that memorandums get lost so badly through the City inter -mail or if the people
that we have working for us have amnesia or bad memory or something, but I
certainly recent being lied to, and that is part of the reason of the mistrust
that has been developing here for some time. You wrote a long list of things
that you are attributing to yourself and the Commission, as having accomplished
for the City of Miami. I understand that there are some things that the City
Manager, of course has to be held responsible for, along with the Commission.
You take the first one up; you wrote down this famous cable television peace
treaty that you have taken credit for. Howard, how much did the Commission
pay attorneys out of Washington to have written a contract between us and the
cable firm?
Mr. Gary: Mr. Carollo, I would like to respond to that in this fashion. First
of all, the lawyers in Washington, D. C. that we used wrote and put in the legal
terminology what I told them to write. Secondly, we paid them $100,000.
Mr. Carollo: Well, frankly, Howard, with all respect to you, if what they put
down in legal terminology you expected them to put down, you know, we should
have worked out a contract with you and George Knox to give you some pay in-
centives instead of sending $100,000 to Washington, D. C. This is why we have
a City Attorney and some 13 other attorneys, and I think George Knox is compe-
tent, and if what you needed was a translation of what you thought should go
down into legal wording, I think George would have done a very adequate job.
What I am getting at, is this: Yes, you as City Manager sat down with these
people and said "This is what our attorneys have put down in a contract - the
least that I am going to accept from you is this, this & this, and this is as
far as I am going to go in a compromise". The bottom line is, that $100,000
is paid to a darn good firm of attorneys that specialize in this field to arrive
on this contract, and these were the people that put together the contract that
was finally signed, sealed, and I hope, I certainly hope, will be delivered.
We will find out in the next couple of years. The second area that you go
into is police recruitment and testing. Well, no doubt about it, the Police
Department has gone a long way from the days of the porkchop boys in hiring
minorities, but the reason they have gcne as far as they have, has been be-
cause this Commission and particularly some members here, including myself,
stood so strongly in not accepting anything less than 80% of the new recruits
to be minorities, but on the other hand, you look at the policy making, decision
making positions in the Police Department; they would let you believe that very,
very few minorities are qualified to hold the rank of captain and above. I
resent - I resent very much what happened the day of the runoff in this past
election. What happened that day was the following: There were some ten peo-
ple promoted on that day without the Mayor of this Commission being informed;
whether Mr. Plummer was or not, I don't know, but I was not informed, the Mayor
was not informed that there were going to be any kind of promotions. If we
were living in some other countries, you might think there was a coup de'tat
and unfortunately, out of those ten people that were promoted, you only had
two - only two - minorities, and what that accomplished, since the majority
of the people who were promoted were very young, so you are almost assured that
there is going to be at least another eight to ten years before you can get
_ some minorities running the Police Department. I could throw so much blame to
the Police Chief for not informing the Commission like he should have, but I
can't throw all the blame. The bottom line is, the Police Chief would not
have done, and could not have done what he did if the City I:anager had not ap-
proved it. That is another example of what I have been talking about. I
understand that there were those who felt that the elections were going to
turn out differently; that might have been why that move was made. Still, there
is no excuse for that whatsoever. As far as the fund balance, I went over that
just a few moments ago. I just find it hard to believe, especially since your
ld
APR 2 01982
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Mr. Carollo: (con't) area of expertise is financing, and when you were an
Assistant City Manager, that was the department that was under you - that it
took so long for us to f ind out just what kind of a balance, or surplus, we
were going to have left and that what happened happened the way it did. I
would certainly hope that for next year, we would have a better hold of it,
and I would certainly hope that as soon as possible, this Commission get ad-
ditional clarification as to the freeze that we put on, just what effect it
had. I think that that went a long way in saving a lot of that money that we
had in the surplus - that freeze that was put on by the Commission. Building
& Zoning management improvement? Well, no doubt about it, the Building &
Zoning Department needed some changes. I will be the first to admit that,
but there are some people in this community that are not going to understand
why a building & zoning department that was run, including had a dept. head
that was minority, all of a sudden the rug was pulled from under his feet, and
there being put in charge of a Fire Department that is 90+% non -minority.
They cannot understand the area of expertise that the Fire Department would
have in building & zoning. Minority Vendor Recruitment Program - if I recall
correctly, this Commission had quite a bit to do with that. There are other
areas that you included in your assessment of your first year in office; most
of them are repetitious of what we have gone over now. I guess what I am say-
ing Hajard, is that there are a heck of a lot of areas that have to be im-
proved. Now, I am not here today to win any popularity contests and I...
as sure as I can count ... and I represent a City of over 400,000 people, which
there are 300 or so people here today.
(INAUDIBLE COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE NOT ENTERED INTO PUBLIC RECORD)
Mr. Carollo: Sir, let me say this to you. You can throw all the threats you
like, but I am not going to be intimidated by any threats that you or anyone
else is going to make here. I am exercising my right as an elected official
to follow the due process of law and any actions that you elect to take,
think you are aware of the due process that you can take according to law.
Mayor Ferre: I am going to run this meeting, Mr. Smith; you are not telling
me how to run this meeting, sir. Alright, now, and if we don't have any
order here and we are going to get into a shouting match, I know how to take
care of that one too. Now, just calm down. Just calm down, please. Just
calm down!
Mr. Carollo: Howard, one of the other questions that I have is, since you have
come aboard, you have made several appointments at levels of decision making.
How many department heads have you named since you have come aboard?..and if
you could give us their names and the departments.
Mr. Gary: You are asking me to do it from memory and I will try to accomplish
what you requested. Carlos Garcia, Finance Director...
Mr. Carollo: He was the... if I may interrupt for a second, please ... he was
the Acting Department Head when you came aboard, if I recall correctly, right?
Am I correct in that, Howard?
Mr. Gary: You are correct. I appointed him after he was in that position for
about a year as Acting.
Mr. Carollo: Thank you.
Mr. Gary: Department head Monohar Surana, Management & Budget Director; Jim
Reid as Assistant City Manager; Randy Rosencrantz, Assistant City Manager;
Charlotte Gallogly, Director of Department of Trade & Commerce; Walter Pierce,
Special Assistant; Jack Eads, my Special Assistant .... I think that concludes it.
Mr. Carollo: Okay, so we have seven appointments.
Mr. Plummer: Those are not department heads.
Mr. Carollo: Mr. Garcia is a Latin-American; Mr. Mono Surana....
(INAUDIBLE COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE NOT ENTERED INTO THE PUBLIC RECORD)
Mayor Ferre: Ladies & Gentlemen, this is a Commission evaluation of the
Manager. Each Commissioner is entitled to ask any questions and make any
statements that he wishes. Now, I wish you would just respect that and I
think we can get along a lot quicker and a lot better. Let's go ahead.
013 APR 2 01982
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Mr. Gary: Commissioner Carollo...
Mr. Carollo: Mr. Mono Surana, I think he is...
Mr. Gary: I will correct that; that was an appointment by Mr. Fosmoen.
Mr. Carollo: By Mr. Fosmoen.
Mr. Gary: Yes, sir.
Mr. Carollo: Mono Surana? Okay. Jim Reid?
Mr. Gary: My appointment as an Assistant City Manager.
Mr. Carollo: Assistant City Manager is a White -American; Mr. Randy Rosen-
crantz, White -American; Charlotte Gallogly, White -American; Mr. Jack
White -American and Mr. Walter Pierce, Black -American. These were the six
appointments that you made in your first year - six of the most important
appointments that the City had to make. I just wanted to get them in the
record. Howard, the statement that you originally made when we started the
evaluation today, I want to make sure that I understood it. Is what you
were trying to say to us by that statement was that you felt that you had
enough of a secure relationship with the Commission now that you do not feel
the need of that contract, or....?
Mr. Gary: No, what I said and I don't have the copy here before me, so I am
going from memory; what I said, if I recall correctly, is that I felt that
that contract, that agreement, as some other people would call it, has been
a bone of contention; it has created a perception of mistrust between the two
of us and if that was an obstacle to bettering our relationship, I would
relinquish the agreement.
Mr. Carollo: Well, let me say this, Howard. I appreciate, and I respect that
posture that you are taking; I think you should be complimented for it, but
at the same time, let me say this - through some research that my staff has
been able to provide for me, I think that you are aware, just like I am now,
that the Attorney -General in the State of Florida has ruled that it is illegal -
it is illegal to compensate any offical..City, State, County, what have you
with any kind of compensation that they do not work for; therefore, the heart
of that contract is illegal, according to the Attorney -General of the State of
Florida in the opinion that he issued, so we really don't have any kind of
contract such as the one that was talked about originally, so in essence,
where we are at is in what you offer and we are going to be working in a rela-
tionship of trust, and in that relationship, that is exactly what the law of
the City of Miami states through the City Charter - that the manager, whom-
ever it is, serves at the will of the Commission. I just wanted to put that
in the record and make it clear. Since, what we really have now is that we are
really working together without any kind of contract for the City Manager, re-
gardless of what my personal feelings are, and regardless of all the areas that
I pointed out here, many more that I have pointed out to you when we have met
personally and others; I want to be above all of that, and I, for one, Howard,
know how to keep my word when I make a statement, just like when I gave you my
word that I was going to vote for you, I voted for you. I previously have made
a statement that if the City Manager was working without a contract and the
City Manager was going to be working under the guidelines that former City
Managers had worked, then I would certainly would have no objections to approv-
ing a pay increase. I made that statement, and regardless of all the things
that I brought out here that I think are extremely serious and that any Com-
mission could use to weigh in determining just what kind of a raise, if any,
to give to the City Manager, I will keep my word in what I stated originally
and whenever the appropriate time is, I will be willing to make a motion to
give you that pay increase at this point in time. Since as we spoke last
privately, I think you understand there are a heck of a lot of areas that need
to be improved; you cannot cater to any one member of this Commission; there
cannot be any protection for one individual, or any other individual; you have
to deal with everybody in a fair way and for those that had tried to show that
there were some of us here that were using this in order to gain additional
power and of employment with the City of Miami, and place our friends in office,
at least I can say there was no one that was hired through my recommendations,
that I am in business with with a firm. I wonder if everyone else here can
say the same thing? But Howard, at the appropriate time, I would make in
APR 2 01982
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Mr. Carollo: (con't) that motion, I think you know where I am coming from,
just like you told me yesterday, you are willing work to better your relation-
ship with me and the Commission; I am willing to work to better that relation-
ship with you, but it is going to have to be a relationship of mutual trust
and mutual understanding and mutual respect.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, Commissioner Dawkins. And, Commissioner Carollc 1
will recognize you at the appropriate time for that motion. Commissionet
Dawkins? Unless you want Perez to go ahead and (INAUDIBLE, OFF MICROPHONE).
Mr. Plummer: Flip a coin.
Mr. Perez: Mr. Mayor, I have a ten page report that I would like to read a
few words that summarize my evaluation report for toda'-. First, let me men-
tion something from Abraham Lincoln: "Let us have faith that right makes
might. Let us do our duty as we understand". At the last Commission meeting,
I had stated that I will approach the subject of the City Manager evaluation
with an open and rn objective mind. After many hours of research and study,
I have included my conclusions and recommendations in a ten page report. Any
person wishing a copy of this evaluation may request one from my office. I
have concluded that my main concern is the present and the future of the
City of Miami, and not the past. However, I am fully aware that the past can-
not be ignored. As it teaches us, important lessons and errors that we should
not commit again. I pray to God that he will give us the wisdom to make the
right choice and the courage to carry them out. It is most important that
we emerge from this process as a united City working toward the common good.
At the April 1st meeting, when the matter of the City Manager evaluation was
first brought before the City Commission, I had this word to say; What I
would like to see is an improvement in the near future in some specific areas
of importance to the residents of Miami. Today we should be given
specific answers to issues before us. For example, we need more minority
participation in the City contracts. Almost 75% of the residents of Miami are
either Hispanic or Black, and I would like to see a higher proportion of Black
and Hispanic in involved in our bidding process. I would like more Affirmative Action
in the higher salary range in the City of Miami. I would like to try to find
solutions for our housing and crime problems, but I think that we have to be
united, and I am sure that with the effort and the support of all of you, and
the good faith of our City Commission, if we work together, we will find better
solutions for the future of our community. In the closing statement of my
ten page evaluation of our City Manager, I wrote "I must state that the posi-
tive far outweighs the negative in my evaluation. Whatever shortcomings
exist, can be corrected and do not constitute a breach of trust or faith. I
will recommend that the Administration devote special attention to the areas
pointed out in this report where room for improvement exists. I am confident
that the small disagreements of the past have all been resolved and that from
this point forward, we can concentrate on making Miami a better place to live."
I therefore recommend we keep the present City Manager, Howard Gary and work
closely together with him and give him our support for the good of the City of
Miami.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Gary, I have been here since November. Since November I have
observed you performing the duties of City Manager. In my opinion, you acted
_ professionally, honestly and with good intentions. As J. L. Plummer said,
none of us are perfect. You show me a person who makes no mistakes, I will
show you a person who isn't doing anything. I find it very difficult to deal
with the fact that of the six people whom you appointed, only two were minori-
ties. But, I have a difficulty with it only in that you were trying to be
fair. You could have very easily come in and made them all Black, all Latin,
but in your effort to be fair and above board, you didn't do that, which I
think is a mark to your advantage. I f eel - I know that you have done a
creditable job and you will continue to do one. I am discouraged and I will
continue to be discouraged until you, as City Manager, direct your Police
Chief that we must have some Black lieutenants and Cuban lieutenants, some
Latin and Black captains and not a Black and Latin !_=ior, but some Black and
_ Latin majors. You cannot do this overnight, and as Carollo said, I have pro-
blems with the fact that the Police Chief was allowed to promote individuals
into positions that they may die in in the next 20 years which mean there could
be no upward mobility for others. But as I said, none of us are perfect, and
as a City Manager, managing a city the size of Miami, with the complexities
that you deal with daily, it is impossible for you to be on top of every item
concerning the City of Miami, and-1 don't expect you to.In fact, I think that
Id
APR 201982
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Mr. Dawkins: (con't) is why the City has input, and we have input to help you.
I did not know that the City Commission was responsible until Commissioner
Carollo said it, for our not having 99 positions in the Sanitation Department
filled. According to Commissioner Carollo, the City Commission ordered the freeze,
so I apologize to you and Mr. Patterson for giving you hell for something that
you are not responsible for. Now, I also have difficulty with your making the
statement that you do not need a compensation agreement. You are Black and you
will remain Black as long as you live. As a Black, you do not have the flexi-
bility that White people enjoy. You see, the thing that most people do not
understand, but we do - it is impossible for Johnny Jones to have created the
situation they said he was in. I don't care what kind of a genius he was, he
could not have created the situation that they put him in, but when he got
there, he found it, and when he forgot that he was Black and attempted to utilize
(INAUDIBLE DUE TO AUDIENCE APPLAUSE) that is when he ran into a problem. I will
seek an opinion of Jim Smith. If Commissioner Carollo is right, I will not do
so, but prior to the 90 days of the termination of your present agreement, I
do not need your permission as a Commissioner to recommend that this agreement
be entered into again. I will do so if Jim Smith says it is proper and correct.
I will leave by saying these words. I am proud of you; I am proud to serve
with you, but if you, at any time compromise your manhood, I will be the f irst
one to. demand that you be fired. Thank you.
Mayor Ferre: Mr. Manager, you and I have had a series of conversations and I
= think you and I understand each other and what my position is. Let me, for
the purposes of the record, go down the evaluation performance process that is
on Page 24 of the International Management Association pamphlet and state in
each one of the areas my position in the evaluation with regards to your job
as City Manager. With regards to job responsibility in the coordination of
city department, I would rate the job that you have done in the past year as
good. With regard to preparation and review of staff reports, it is my opin-
ion that we need .substantial improvement in this area. The reason is not
necessarily due to a lack of thoroughness, but rather two -fold. One is, the
proper timing of those reports; I think sometimes they take too long; secondly,
_ I think the format that we receive them in is much too voluminous. I think that
it is almost impossible for the average member of this Commission to really
read through all of that information and I think it needs to be put on a sum-
mary basis in a clear way where we understand what the problem is, what the
issue is and what the conclusion, and that is just a matter of style and I
think that is something that we can very quickly do. Perhaps we might want
to get somebody like Booz Allen, or somebody of your choice to help us in
the establishing of a format, which is a tool for communications in the re-
view of staff reports. With regard to the budget development, that is, the
preparation and monitoring of budgets, again I think we need some tightening
up. You and I both know, even though maybe some other people who are not in-
volved in accounting procedures, know that a budget, when it is passed in the
State of Florida, we cannot have deficits. And it is supposed to be an accurate
assessment and statement of where we are going to be at the end of the year,
once the monies that have been appropriated have been expended. Now, the prob-
lem that I have with the so-called six million dollar surplus which you and I
_ both know is not six, but eight million dollars, because two million of it had
been previusly authorized for expenditures, but the actual surplus is eight
million dollars. But, that is an aside, whether it is six or eight million
dollars, is that in a budgetary update process, we should know exactly where
we stand on a monthly basis. It is totally unacceptable for a budget to con-
clude on September 30th and for us to begin in the new budget year and not
really know that we have a surplus of any kind, whether it be $100 or six
million dollars. In a budget of $131,000,000, a six million dollar surplus
is an inordinate amount of money. Now, I further do not accept that Peat,
Marwick and Mitchell took four months, almost, to let us know that we had
such a surplus. Now, I realize that after the closing of the books it takes
30 to 60 days to come up with that information, but certainly by early Decem-
ber, we should have known that there was a surplus of that magnitude. It is
my personal opinion that you were not aware of the surplus. I don't think
that you were trying to hide anything from the Commission. I do feel that
the staff under you either did not have proper communication, or did not have
the confidence of letting you know, and it seems totally wrong for a letter
like the letter that went out to our people in New York to have gone out in
January without your being informed; and you said you were not, and I absolute-
ly take you at your word that you were not knowledgeable of that surplus. I do
not think that we should ... I just don't think it is a healthy situation. A
surplus is something which is not necessarily something that this Commission
r,
y APR 2 01982
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Mayor Ferre; (con't) or the administration has unilaterally done. It comes
about through savings and through other things that we have jointly done, but
what is unacceptable is the lack pf information on such a major item of such
magnitude. With regards to press relations, as you know when you and I had
our first discussion and this is the only thing that I am going to make public
out of that discussion - I started out by asking you if you had had a meeting
with the editor of the Miami Herald and with Charlotte Gallogly in a restaurant
which I had been informed that you had met. Subsequent to that, a reporter of
the Miami Herald went down to the Department of Trade and Commerce and then
on Wednesday, three days later, a rather negative story came out about the
City of Miami. Now, I have no objections with the editor of our leading news-
paper meeting with the City Manager. Nor do I have any objections with you
discussing any matter or item that you deem appropriate or that he seeks to
find out in discussion. I do not think that in the process of the relationship
between the Commission and the Manager, a healthy relationship can exist when
information that is vital and critical in nature goes out to the morning press
without previous discussion with members of the Commission, and that is just a
personal opinion. I.do not think that you can establish a healthy relationship
with trust if information of that substantial nature is coming out in the news-
papers through the process which I described. With regard to professional and
personal development, it is my personal opinion that the improvements that you
have shown are very impressive, and this is not the first time that I have said
that. You know that I have on various occasions made a statement that I think
that you have certainly grown in this job. I am concerned about the ability,
or the opportunity for other members of the administration - top members - who
also have shown improvement and growth in the professional standards in which
we all want and need. With regards to subordinates and the personal develop-
ment of subordinates, I too agree with the statement made by Commissioner Mil-
ler Dawkins ir.. the past, and most recently on April 1st, that you have now
been in office for over a year, and it is time for you to appoint a Black
Assistant City Manager, which we do not have at the present time. On item 7,
communications with employees, I have a feeling that there is a sense among
certain areas of the City government that you are not accessible and I am not
talking about just Roy Kenzie; I am talking about other members of your staff.
I am not saying that you should institute an open door policy even though I
am fully in favor of that; I know that in any structure of government, there
must be a hierarchy and you cannot have all 3,202 employees open to walk into
your office to discuss items with you. Now, I think a certain amount of that,
if you do it perhaps on a once a month, in the afternoon, or if you were to
go to the departments and perhaps make yourself available for open discussion,
I think that you would have a much better sense of communications with the
middle -management and the lower paid employees in the City, and I think that
would be helpful. With regards to communications with the City Commission, I
think this is perhaps one of the most important areas. It is my opinion that
you are not doing a good job in that; I do not think that you are the worst of
the City Managers that I have worked with. I certainly think that toward the
last year, Mr. Grassie was extremely uncommunicative with the Commission and
we paid a pretty heavy price for that. Now, at that time, I had recommended
to the City Manager and I recommend it to you in the past and will do so again.
I know that you cannot spend the time that it would require for you to per-
sonally call on every member of the Commission, but I do think that you should
assign an individual or several individuals to make sure that after your staff
meetings and after you have come to conclusions on basic and important issues,
that the members of this Commission are fully informed. It does not have to be
by you, and that includes me. I also feel that on important, basic issues that
confront this City, that it is essential that you personally communicate with
members of the Commission, and that you do so both in writing and verbally.
I think that it is no secret that a lot of time because of the voluminous mail
and the voluminous reports that we receive, sometimes it takes a long time for
an important issue to come before members of this Commission, and I think if it
is a matter of urgency, of importance, of impact, that it would best serve the
purposes of this City if you would just pick up the phone and call each Com-
missioner and say "We have just won the Supreme Court of Florida with such and
such, or I have just done this, or we are going to hire so and so, or we are
going to dismiss so and so" if it is something of major importance. With re-
gards to communications with the public, I think you have done an exceptionally
good job in that; I have no complaints in that end. With regards to projects
- and accomplishments, I think the projects you are doing well; others are not
doing so well. Let me be specific in one case. We have now been waiting for
six or seven months to hire a manager for Culmer area and the Park West develop-
ment. Now, I think two or three months is a reasonable time; I think four months
2 APR 201982
Mayor Ferre: (con't) might be pushing it, but I think the time - I might re-
mind you that this matter, your memorandum stating what the staff and what your
administrative position was goes back to September - and I think that September
to late or mid -April is just too long, and I think that is a specific point
where I think we are not moving ahead quickly, and I think we need a tremendous
amount of impetus; with all due respects, I do not think that. the .Culmer project
and the Overtown project and the Park West project is on schedule - I think we
are way behind and I think all of us, but you in particular, share some of that
responsibility for not moving this ahead and I think one of the reasons is that
we don't have a project manager on board. With regards priority and organiza-
tional goal setting, I have absolutely no problem with that; I thik you have
done a good job in goal setting. And, with regards to supervisory ability, I
have again no problems; I think you have done a commendable job in supervising
people that are directly working under you. Now, in administrative skills,
with regards to organization and planning, I made mention of the budget surplus
problem; I think that might be indicative of other tightening that we need in
some of those organizational and planning skills. Quality of decisions - I
have not only no problems, but I think that the majority of the decisions that
you have made when they are not political in nature have been exceptionally
good. The question of decisiveness again is one that I think that you have
done a..good job on, as I feel that on the aspects of .... as a matter of fact, I
especially feel positive on the question of creativity. I think that in that
area you have shown a great deal of skill. Written communications again I
thinks needs simplification and we don't need to go over that. Interpersonal
skills - in the leadership area, I would again say that I feel there is more
access needed. Perhaps it might be important in the next three or four, or
five months until a better procedure is established that .... and I know that it
is important for you to travel and for you to inteview people out of the City,
or to go to Washington on different issues, but perhaps some of that could be
delegated for a few months until we have a little bit tighter control on this
relationship with people in the City. Oral communications I have -already
discussed. Stability of performance - intolerance of uncertainty and resis-
tance to stress, I think you have shown a rather exceptional, ability to resist
stress and to deal with tolerance of uncertainty. And lastly, with work moti-
vation - the inner -work standards I do think need a little strengthening; the
energy aspects of work motivation I think it has been very high, but again, I
feel that perhaps more time on the job would improve that. Now, those are the
basic areas. The other things that have been brought out in the press as a
result of some of the request of your office, for example such as the f act that
there is a car owned by the City which is at the disposal of the Manager and
intermittently at different times you have also received rental cash for leased
vehicles, or a car allowance, if you will. That seems to be somewhat nebulous
and I think that needs a little clarification, and I don't think it needs to be
done at this particular time, but whenever you are ready and I think in a memo-
randum form would be the best way to do that. No,-T, lastly, let me address
the issue of the contract and compensation. My differences with you are basic-
ly in the realm of what I perceive to be the intzrnal politics of the City, and
the external politics of the City. There has ojecondly been of communications.
There are not terminal diseases, nor are they cardinal sins, unless they per-
sist. I am hopeful that the message has been very clear. I am hopeful that
we can establish a cordial and positive working relationship. You certainly
will have every good wish on my part, and every effort on my part to do so.
Now, with regards to the contract. The contract is illegal. There is no other
way around it. There has been not one, but several rulings by the County Com-
mission, by the County Attorney, and by the Attorney General of the State of
Florida that specificly preclude contracts or agreement for compensation be-
yond service. I think you have made a very valid and a very important point
with regards to the ability of a chief administrator to work in conjunction
with his bosses and your bosses are the people who retain, wbo hire you, or
who fire you, and they sit at this table. You do not get elected through the
electoral process. I think it is essential that we safeguard the integrity
of the charter and there is a specific purpose in this form of government.
Now, we can change the form of government with the will of the people, but if
we are going to continue to working with this form of government, then it must
be as it is outlined in the constitution of the City, which is the Charter. I
commend you for what you have done this morning. I am only sorry that you
didn't do it a lot earlier and avoided an awful lot of the pain that all of
us have gone through in this process. I think what you have done is intelli-
gent, and I think it speaks well for exactly the kind of point that you and
I have been talking about, and I think that we can now move ahead whenever
the Commission wishes and I will accept the motion that Commissioner Carollo
ld . " AFri
0 1982
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has stated he wants to make at the appropriate time, unless anybody else has
any other statements they want to make.
Mr. Dawkins: I have a statement to make after the motion, please.
Mayor Ferre: Commissioner, do you want to say something?
Mr. Carollo: Mr. Mayor, in keeping with my word that I gave some months back,
I feel very strongly that one of the few things that a man has in his life is
his word; if you can't keep your word, you are not much of a man. Therefore,
Mr. Mayor, regardless what my feelings are at this point in time; regardless
of some of the areas that I am unhappy with, I will make a motion to approve
the salary increase of our City Manager beginning today.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I would like to ask the maker of the motion - in-
creased to what?
Mr. Carollo: Mr. Plummer, I think it is very clear - a salary increase ac-
cordingly to what everyone else in the City government has gotten.
Mayor Ferre: Which is 10% & 2%, is that right?
Mr. Gary: Mr. Mayor, the City Commission granted the City Clerk and the City
Attorney approximately 18%. There will be adjustments as a result of the
Police contract and fire contract that will require adjustment in the upper
echelon of the Police and Fire Departments and other departments which will
total from 15% to 17% to 20%.
Mr. Carollo: I figured you would have that very handy, Howard.
Mr. Plummer: Well, Mr. Carollo, is it the intent of your motion that the
Manager would receive the same percentage as indicated?
Mr. Carollo: I think that the Manager understands my motion clearly. I think
he clarified any misconceptions that their can be. We are approving the same
percentage of raise as has been approved to the other two members of this City,
that this Commission is empowered to approve in raises.
Mr. Plummer; Second the motion.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, further discussion.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, well, let this motion go ahead. I'd like to make
another one.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, any other discussion? Call the roll.
The following motion was introduced by Commissioner'Carollo, who moved its
adoption:
MOTION NO. 82-327
A MOTION APPROVING A SALARY INCREASE FOR CITY MANAGER HOWARD V.
GARY, EFFECTIVE TODAY, IN A PERCENTAGE EQUAL TO THAT RECENTLY
GIVEN TO THE CITY ATTORNEY AND THE CITY CLERK.
Upon being seconded by Commissioner Plummer, the motion was passed and
adopted by the following vote:
AYES: Commissioner Miller J. Dawkins
Commissioner Demetrio Perez, Jr.
Commissioner J. L. Plummer, Jr.
Vice -Mayor Joe Carollo*
Mayor Maurice A. Ferre*
NOES: None.
_ ON ROLL CALL:
*Mr. Carollo: While voting "yes" Howard, let me congratulate you again for
still earning and now much more so than before than our Goverror, our State
Senators, our Congressmen, and we are still beating Stierheim in Dade County.
I vote "yes".
4 An
APR 2 0 1902
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**Mayor Ferre: In the original contract proceedings, when I voted "no" for
the purposes that I stated, and in the discussion in January, when the salary
issue came up for discussion, I expressed my position that we were in a dif-
ferent format than we had ever been before, because of the fact that we had a
contract. Now we do not have a contract, so in voting with the motion, let me
say, because I am sure that I will get a series of hundreds of angry telephone
calls and letters from citizens that are upset...I would like to say for the
record and for the citizens that will be calling my office, that this is a
corporation that belongs to the people of Miami that has an operating budget
of over $150,000,000, that has property valued in the billions of dollars and
that has over 3000 employees. I do not think there is a corporation in Ameri-
ca that would pay a president of that corporation, which in effect is what
the Manager is, a salary anywhere near as low as his salary. Now, the fact
that the State of Florida pays the Governor less, or the fact that Metropoli-
tan Dade County pays its Manager less, is something they have to deal with. As
far as I am concerned, I've never had any problems with proper compensation of
the chief administrative officer of this City,and I vote yes.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I think the one thing that all of the Commission have
expressed to the Manager is in the area of lack of communications. I think
even the Manager himself is not happy with the situation. I would hope - I
won't do it in the form of a motion; hopefully the Manager will come back at
the next regular Commission meeting - that the Manager would see fit, and this
is not dictating to you, Howard; this is, I hope, a suggestion to help - that
you see within your wisdom that in the administration that one single indivi-
dual be responsible on a daily basis of communicating with each and every
Commissioner.
Mayor Ferre: That could be at an A.C.M. level.
Mr. Plummer: A.C.M. level, whatever; that is going to be his recommendation,
Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Ferre: No, no, no. If you are going to do it that way, I want to be
very specific. Mr. Manager, it has to be somebody that sits in your conference
room and listens to the discussions that are going on on a weekly basis.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor...
Mayor Ferre: I don't care if it is an A.C.M., or if it is an assistant to
you, but it has to be someone - I don't mean to belittle the importance of
other people - but, it has to be someone who is informed on a primary source
basis rather than on a secondary source basis.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I was trying to afford him the latitude of choosing
that individual. What I am saying is, that I feel that it would only be right
that the administration designate an individual for that purpose. I feel fur-
ther that that individual could take take the memos that we receive for infor-
mation, citizen's complaints and citizen's requests and could eliminate a great
deal of the bureaucracy that exists. As you know, Mr. Mayor, better than I,
because I was not here during - God -rest -his -soul - Abe Goldman; that is ex-
actly what he did. Abe Goldman, yes - Mitchell Goldman's father; he was a dir-
ect liaison between the Manager and the Commission, and what that man was able
to do was to move mountains and eliminate red tape. I do believe, Mr. Gary,
that that would be something that would go a long way towards eliminating the
problems that exist in the lack of communications and the reluctance of the
citizens to call in when it takes three to four weeks to get an answer. I
would hope, Mr. Gary, at the next Commission meeting, if it takes an appropri-
ation of money to designate for a single individual, so be it, but I per-
sonally feel that it would go a long way to relieve the problem, how big, or
how small it exists today.
Mayor Ferre: Okay.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Mayor...
Mayor Ferre: Yes, sir.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Gary, I am going to infringe on your personal life; I hope
you will forgive me. Recently there was an article in the news media and al-
so on the TV media - and if you see, if we do not stop these rumors at the
beginning, it is too late at the end, so I am going to clarify myth that
ld APR 2 0 198
2
0 i
**Mayor Ferre: In the original contract proceedings, when I voted "no" for
the purposes that I stated, and in the discussion in January, when the salary
issue came up for discussion, I expressed my position that we were in a dif-
ferent format than we had ever been before, because of V'e fact that we had a
contract. Now we do not have a contract, so in voting with the motion, let me
say, because I am sure that I will get a series of hundreds of angry telephone
calls and letters from citizens that are upset...I would like to say for the
record and for the citizens that will be calling my office. that this is a
corporation that belongs to the people of Miami that has an operating budget
of over $150,000,000, that has property valued in the billions of dollars and
that has over 3000 employees. I do not think there is a corporation in Ameri-
ca that would pay a president of that corporation, which in effect is what
the Manager is, a salary anywhere near as low as his salary. Now, the fact
that the State of Florida pays the Governor less, or the fact that Metropoli-
tan Dade County pays its Manager less, is something they have to deal with. As
far as I am concerned, I've never had any problems with proper compensation of
the chief administrative officer of this City,and I vote yes.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I think the one thing that all of the Commission have
expressed to the Manager is in the area of lack of communications. I think
even the Manager himself is not happy with the situation. I would hope - I
won't do it in the form of a motion; hopefully the Manager will come back at
the next regular Commission meeting - that the Manager would see fit, and this
is not dictating to you, Howard; this is, I hope, a suggestion to help - that
you see within your wisdom that in the administration that one single indivi-
dual be responsible on a daily basis of communicating with each and every
Commissioner.
Mayor Ferre: That could be at an A.C.M. level.
Mr. Plummer: A.C.M. level, whatever; that is going to be his recommendation,
Mr. Mayor.
Mayor Ferre: No, no, no. If you are going to do it that way, I want to be
very specific. Mr. Manager, it has to be somebody that sits in your conference
room and listens to the discussions that are going on on a weekly basis.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor...
Mayor Ferre: I don't care if it is an A.C.M., or if it is an assistant to
you, but it has to be someone - I don't mean to belittle the importance of
other people - but, it has to be someone who is informed on a primary source
basis rather than on a secondary source basis.
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, I was trying to afford him the latitude of choosing
that individual. What I am saying is, that I feel that it would only be right
that the administration designate an individual for that purpose. I feel fur-
ther that that individual could take take the memos that we receive for infor-
mation, citizen's complaints and citizen's requests and could eliminate a great
deal of the bureaucracy that exists. As you know, Mr. Mayor, better than'I,
because I was not here during - God -rest -his -soul - Abe Goldman; that is ex-
actly what he did. Abe Goldman, yes - Mitchell Goldman's father; he was a dir-
ect liaison between the Manager and the Commission, and what that man was able
to do was to move mountains and eliminate red tape. I do believe, Mr. Gary,
that that would be something that would go a long way towards eliminating the
problems that exist in the lack of communications and the reluctance of the
citizens to call in when it takes three to four weeks to get an answer. I
would hope, Mr. Gary, at the next Commission meeting, if it takes an appropri-
ation of money to designate for a single individual, so be it, but I per-
sonally feel that it would go a long way to relieve the problem, how big, or
how small it exists today.
Mayor Ferre: Okay.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Mayor...
Mayor Ferre: Yes, sir.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Gary, I am going to infringe on your personal life; I hope
you will forgive me. Recently there was an article in the news media and al-
so on the TV media - and if you see, if we do not stop these rumors at the
beginning, it is too late at the end, so I am going to clarify myth that
ld
�' APR 2 01982
0 0
Mr. Dawkins: (con't) Howard Gary received illegal compensation while employed
in the City of Newark. I have here - Newark - from the office of Howard V.
Gary, November 30 1976 to Brenda Veltry, personnel Director, re: Overtime.
"I am requesting that a clarification be obtained from the Civil Service as
to the eligibility of me receiving overtime in accordance with the new admin-
istrative code, title 4, departmental civil service rules 41-48, part 2.
In accordance with this rule, the Mayor and business administrator has re-
quired and authorized me to work more than my normal 30 hour work week, as a
result of complicated fiscal and budgetary problems that the City has faced
since 1973. However, some questions have arisen as to the legitimacy of my
receiving overtime for this required and authorized work. It appears obvious
that if one read civil service rules and regulations title 4, that the title
of Budget Officer, which is a classified and competitive position given by
civil service rules and regulations, is eligible to receive compensation for
work hours worked beyond the normal work week." State of New Jersey, Depart-
ment of Civil Service, Miss Brenda Veltry, Personnel Director, 920 Broad Street.
"Dear Miss Veltry: This is in reference to the inquiry from the Budget Direc-
tor Howard V. Gary, concerning his right to be paid overtime under provisions
of the New Jersey Act 41-18.2 on the basis that he holds a competitive position in
the classified service. The above mentioned regulation stipulates that any
employee who is authorized or required to work beyond the normal work week
for his class title, shall be compensated in the manner prescribed by over-
time regulations. The overtime regulations referred to in the New Jersey
act 41-18.2 are those established by the local jurisdiction and not by the
Department of Civil Service. This was substantiated in NJAC 418 w1lich states
'In local services, the appointing authority shall establish regulations regard-
ing hours of such work week.' However, if all other employees who work on a com-
parative administrative level are paid for overtime, then Mr. Gary should also
receive overtime compensation in order to assure a uniform salary administration
program." Newark, New Jersey, Brenda Veltry, Personnel Director. Memorandum
to William Wall from Brenda Veltry, Overtime Payment - Civil Services Department.
"The attached communication is from Civil Service Department concerning overtime
payment for Howard Gary. The Department of Civil Service stipulates that Mr.
Gary is entitled to overtime payments, as other Division Directors in the classi-
fied staff are paid for overtime." Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIEv SPEAKER:
Mayor Ferre: Alright - anybody - anybody else?
Mr. Carollo: Miller, I compliment you for going and doing that research, but
nobody here was questioning this...
Mr. Dawkins: The media.
Mr. Carollo: I don't know what the media was doing, but nobody was questioning
that, and being that that Mayor is under indictment now, I certainly wouldn't
want to touch that City with a 10 foot pole.
Mr. Dawkins: Okay, but coming back, you not being Black, I have to explain it
to you.
Mr. Carollo: My dear brother Miller; I might not be Black; you might not be
White, but I certainly do think we communicate in the same language.
Mr. Dawkins: Yes, we do; yes, we do. You are right, but for some reason, the
media always is the one that puts pitfalls for Black people, and we always sit
back and wait until it has been done, and then we attempt to correct it, so we
are starting now. You see, I hate to keep reminding people... the media said,
when I first got to Miami, "Tanny Dean, a Black political leader - Tanny Dean, a
a Black political leader" - none of us said a word. Then; when Tanny Dean got
in trouble and the Herald said "Tanny Dean, the Black political leader" now,
we all want to say "He is not a Black political leader", when we should have
said so when it first hit the paper. So, I am saying now, "Mr. Gary did not"
for the media. See, we aren't concerned up here! We we had, I would have
given it to the members of the ... if anybody here had been concerned, I would
have given it to them, but I gave it to Mr. Gary. It is personal. If he wants
to give it to the media, that is perfectly alright with me.
Mayor Ferre: Alright, before we conclude and let other members of the public
who wish to speak, we do have a question, Mr. Knox, of the City Attorney, due
APR 2 0198f,
i
E
Mayor Ferre: (con't) to your resignation. I would like to recommend to mem-
bers of this Commission that we extend the time period for another 10 days,
because I think there are several people that I think might apply, and 1 think
that it is a:•ays good to have as many as possible for us to make our evalua-
tion and determination from. I might point out, for example that there is not
one single Latin applicant in the 13, or 15, I forget which, applied. I might
also submit into the record that I have received several applications and I am
sorry I did not get them to you by the appropriate cutoff time, but just for
the record, they are Mr. Sid McKensey of the State Attorney's office, Chief
Prosecutor. We also have Mr. David Cartwell, who is the City Attorney of Lake-
land, Florida. I also gave you the name of ... would you read into the record
who he is?
Mr. Knox: Yes, that name was Robert Rosenberg.
Mayor Ferre: I also have an additional name of Mr. Jaime Clavel. Now, those
are the four that have been submitted to my office, which I have turned over
to you for inclusion. I would like to recommend to the members of the Com-
mission that if you have any candidates for the position of City Attorney,
that you please encourage those people to submit their names as quickly as
possible.
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Mayor, I would just like to make one statement. See, Mr.
Gary, this is what I was telling you about how the rules change. You had a
cutoff date. Specific directions were given - send the applications to.
Mayor Ferre: I've got no problem!
Mr. Dawkins: I know, I know, but I have got to say it.
Mayor Ferre: That's okay.
Mr. Dawkins: I've got to say it!
Mayor Ferre: Cut it off; cut it off if you want.
Mr. Dawkins: I don't want to cut it off; I am just making a statement. No,
I am not cutting; I want to make a statement.
Mayor Ferre: I'll do it.
Mr. Dawkins: Okay, you do it, okay. But, the specific directions were given.
Send the applications either to George or to the Clerk. Now we have some that
come into the Mayor's office. See? Alright, the rules change, alright? Now,
the 10 days cutoff date, the rules change. But, let them change, I don't have
no problem with them changing. I just want to...
Mayor Ferre: Miller, Miller ... Mr. Dawkins, the point remains the same. We
have 13 applicants. If you want, I will do it. You want me to hammer it, I'll
hammer it. I will make a motion rejecting all 13 and we start over again.
Mr. Dawkins: If you get three votes for that, I have no problem with it.
Mayor Ferre: But, you know...I think that...
Mr. Dawkins: Mr. Mayor, you only have one vote; if you make the motion and you
get three votes, I don't have no problem with it. But, if you make the motion
and don't get three votes, then you got a problem.
Mayor Ferre: I will do it. Okay, I read you; I read you. I make a motion
that the period of time for the selection of a City Attorney be extended for
10 days so that we can get other applicants. In the two weeks that we got,
in my opinion, ended up not being sufficient, and I so move.
Mr. Dawkins: I second.
Mr. Carollo: There is a motion and there is a second and I am sure not going
to hear any further discussion.
Mr. Plummer: Whoa. Whoa!
Mr. Carollo: Well, let's hear from the dead!
' APR 2 0 i982
0
Mr. Plummer: You better always remember the dead; you will be there eventually.
Mr. Carollo: However, not as soon as my dear colleague would like.
Mr. Plummer: Your dying is my living! Mr. Mayor, I think that the job and
the position of City Attorney is too important to make a snap decision here,
today. I will say to you sir, and I don't really want to do this and I will
not do it on Thursday, but as of right now, 1 invoke the rule. I think we need
to give it some thought. I think we need to think about it. I think we need to
analyze. And once we have had that opportunity to do so, then I am prepared to
vote.
Mayor Ferre: Plummer, I accept that. On Thursday I will bring up as.the first
issue before the Commission, the extension with regards to submission of those
names to my office. These people did not know, and they made a mistake, and we
will deal with that on Thursday, but I will be submitting those four names that
came... actually, in one case it wasn't a mistake, as you knew about it, George.
Mr. Knox: Mr. Mayor, I can further clarify the record. One of the difficulties
with the time frame within which we advertised for the position...
Mr. Plummer: Mr. Mayor, excuse me; I think Mr. Knox is out of order when the
rule is invoked, it precludes any further discussion.
Mayor Ferre: Oh, you are not going to cut him off from talking, are you?
Mr. Plummer: Not Thursday!
Mayor Ferre: Let him talk!
Mr. Plummer: You might not be here Thursday, right?
Mr. Knox: One of the things that happened was, due to that short time frame,
we were not able to get our advertisement in some of the publications put out
by the Florida Bar that are distributed state-wide, and as a result, people
became aware of the position by word of mouth and they were not clear about
where to send their applications and this would be a justification for extend-
ing the time.
Mr. Carollo: The motion has been withdrawn; is the second withdrawn?
Mr. Dawkins: Yes.
- Mr. Carollo: Mr. Mayor, if I may - George, I know that my dear friend and
your dear friend, the Editor -in -Chief of the Miami Herald is not going to be
happy with me today, but then, they are not happy with me any other day. I
am going to ask you if you can do something for this Commission and this City,
and that is, if you can stay on past the date of resignation that you gave,
but no later than July 31, until this Commission goes to recess, until we
find a replacement for yourself.
Mr. Knox: I am not watching Commissioner Dawkins at this time. Vice -Mayor
Carollo, I, along with the Commission, am intently interested in making sure
that the mantle passes to someone who is eminently qualified to hold this
position and I regard it to be a position of honor, and I would be privileged
and pleased to stay on until the City Commission goes into recess so that our
process of selection of my successor may be deliberative and orderly and would
most likely insure that a capable person occupies this seat.
Mayor Ferre: Alright. Now, Commissioner Dawkins, you don't have any objec-
tions to a sudden change like that, do you?
Mr. Dawkins: I accept that.
Mayor Ferre: He accepts that one.
Mr. Carollo: Can we please instruct the Clerk to send a copy of that to the
Editor -in -Chief of the Miami Herald.
ld APR 2 01982
0 0
Mayor Ferre: Alright. Now we are going to get to comments, and I see Mr.
Hadley is waving at me, and I am going to take Hadley first - he comes first,
and then Mr. Smith comes next.
Mr. Hadley: Mr. Chairman..
Mr. Carollo: Charlie, if we can, for the record...
Mr. Hadley: I only have one or two things to say, if you will allow me to
say thee.
Mr. Carollo: Can we have your address for the record, Charlie? Please.
Mr. Hadley: Why? -
Mr. Carollo: It is the rules that we have here, unless somebody else comes
in here —and I am going to ask that..I don't want them to say "You didn't ask
Charlie Hadley for it".
Mr. Hadley: I live at 1836 N. W. 55 Terrace. My zip code is 33142; my tele-
phone is 634-7005 and I am walking this walker today.
Mr. Carollo: Thank you, Charlie.
Mr. Hadley: And my friend, I want to say this to you. The young lady says
to me, "What is your name?" and I told her my name is Charlie Hadley. "What
are you here for?" She wouldn't allow me to finish what I had to say. I told
her "I am here for justice, but I am not here just for me; I am here for jus-
tice, and I haven't seen justice." And I want to give these people here cre-
dit where credit is due. Mr. Brown, Dr. Perry - you see these people here?
They have taken their time to come here for justice, not just to be here, and
thank you, Mr. Brown and Dr. Perry and the rest of the people that gave their
time and their effort just to be here to support and see that we have one of
the best Commissions anywhere in the country. Thank you.
Mayor Ferre: I apologize, Mr. Smith, but I am sure that you understand that
Mr. Hadley is first.
_ Mr. Smith: Absolutely! My name is H. T. Smith. My address is 1068 N. W.
_ 56th Street. My business of five years is 1 Biscayne Tower, Suite 2382, with-
in the corporate city limits of the City of Miami. First of all, let me say
that there is no other place that I would rather be than right here, right
now to stand, to speak, in behalf of a City Manager who has the finest record
of accomplishments of any city manager in the history of the city in his first
year. Secondly, let me say, in spite of interference by myself and the Mayor,
and instigations by one of the Commissioners, I think that this has been one
of the most orderly conducted meetings of this seriousness, with this amount
of people, that I have seen since I have been here, and I commend all of those,
the Commissioners and the participants for respecting the rights of persons
to be heard, even when what they say is political poppycock. I am not here to
_ instigate a confrontation; that is not necessary. When I woke up this morning
_ and read in the Miami Herald that a man in an office that has been very good
to my community, was quoted as saying that his intentions was to shake up -
to shake up the City Manager, we don't have time for that kind of belittling.
When I heard Commissioner Dawkins say what he did today, he really summarized
everything that I felt in my heart, as sincerely as I could say it. And that
is, anytime you have five people of the different political persuasions that
you havelwho have been elected by the people with different constituents who
are concerned about the total role of government for the tri-etnic community,
you are going to have problems. But still, it is no reason to
or cause an individual to have to give up his manhood for money. The City
Manager is your employee. He can't respond as I can to some of the unfounded
charges that have been made against him. After the April Fool hearing that
we had here the day that it was put off, I sent a letter to the Mayor and to
the Vice -Mayor requesting that I be given an opportunity to speak. To this
date, there has been no acknowledgment of receipt of that letter, but I don't
criticize the Mayor and the Vice -Mayor for that, because things like that
happen, and I think it is pure political poppycock for over a year for the
City Manager to be in office to say that two memos out of I don't know how
many thousands that have gone across his desk, were late. After one of the
most severe editorial indictments by news media, both from the radio and
television and the newspaper concerning the cable TV contract, whereby there
APR 2 01982
0 0
Mr. Smith: (con't) was a Federal Grand Jury investigation; whereby there is
presently a State Attorney investigation of the principal of one of those com-
panies concerning allegations of bribery. The contract was placed in the hands
of the City Manager and you told him "Uut of this confusion, make something of
it, irrespective of the problems", and the City Manager came up with the best
cable TV contract in the south, and what experts in the field consider to be
one of the finest cable TV contracts in this country, and so do the people feel
that way, and that is the style that these people are here, to see that it
continues. And it is pure nonsense for anyone to say that the Manager is not
responsible for that. When the City Commission passed a resolution that the
City Attorney puts in legal form, did the City Attorney do that? When Alexander
Haig goes to a foreign land and negotiates a peaceful settlement, and the law-
yer put it in writing, do the lawyers do that? Absolutely not! They make
sure that it is legally sufficient, and I suggest to you, to take away from
the Commission and the Manager what has been done with regard that is to really
betray the truth. These accomplishments are not only accomplishments of the
Manager. A Commissioner said "Well, these are things that the Commission did".
Well, the Manager can't do anything without your policy direction. That is
his job. The legitimate criticisms of the Manager from Commissioner Plummer
and from Commissioner Dawkins and Commissioner Perez with regards to communi-
cation is a valuable one; it is an important one, but how -in the world can be
institute without any policy - withou� your policy direction. And then, when
he follows your direction, you say "You didn't do it! You didn't do it, why
do you take credit for it?" And I suggest to you, that that is nonsense.
Finally, there are those of you out here that understand what a pyrrhic vic-
tory is. A pyrrhic victory is when you win, but you lose. Any of you have
every been employed and had your boss after your butt, knowing that he can get
it if he wants it? He packs paper on you. He sends you memos. Every little
thing that goes wrong, it winds up in the news media. You hear behind your
back that they want to shake you up. If those of you who leave here today after
the little laughter that we heard, thinking this matter is over, then you are
in for a rude awakening. Lastly, and as you noticed when I was out of order,
and I admit I was out of order, Commissioner Plummer said something. I im-
mediately Rot back in order because I know that is a man of his word, a man
this community has always been able to trust and count on, no matter what!
However, as a postscript to what I say, I am a native Miamian. I have lived
here for 35 years. I have practiced law here for 10 years. This community
has always felt - my community has always felt a special, a very special re-
lationship with the Mayor's office. I know of no other Mayor, other than may-
be Willie Logan, that has had the confidence and the support of my community,
as this Mayor, and we showed it, we proved it to you November of -last year,
and I remember riding down Liberty City streets and hearing you declare your
victory from Operation Big Vote headquarters. I recall that, but let there
be no mistake about it. Just like husbands and wives have fights, your re-
lationship with this community has been tremendously strained as a result of
this problem. We want to make up. I don't think that anybody should fall
out and stop speaking and turn their backs. We have been allies before; we
want to continue to be allies, because just as we fight each other, the
enemies are still at work. Let me just close by saying the story about Lone
Ranger and Tonto when the Lone Ranger found himself surrounded by Indians, be
cause Mr. Mayor, I don't want this to happen to you. The Lone Ranger found
himself surrounded by Indians and looked over to Tonto and said "What are we
going to do?", and his used -to -be friend Tonto said, "I don't know about you,
but - whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo!" Now, I say to you, Mr. Mayor, we want to be
your friend. We want to be your ally; we want to be your. supporters, but I
suggest to you that if this kind of controversy continues to exist and the
Manager has his responsibility also - and people in the community have talked to
the Manager, he has assured us that he would do his part to communicate with
all of you and to be fair with all of you - that I suggest to you that the day
of the Black community forgetting, never remembering, is over.
Mayor Ferre: Mr. Smith, if I may, as a matter of personal privilege, I ap-
preciate the statement that you made, and the positive side of that statement.
You have never personally been a supporter of mine, nor have you ever been
active in any of my campaigns, and I understand. You are entitled to that.
There are many people here who have been. I want you to understand, and I
hope you did not miss the significance of my recognizing Charlie Hadley when
he stood up. Now, I didn*t mean that in any way in a derogatory sense against
you; I do mean to say that there are people in this community that have been,
are, and continue to be, and will continue to be close to me. Now, I want to
tell you something. I want to tell you something, whether I am believed or
6V APR 2 01982
ld
Mayor Ferre: (con't) whether I am not believed. I want to tell you, and I
want to say publicly on the record, and to this community - my differences with
Howard Gary are differences with Howard Gary the man, okay? I will not cringe.
I will not bow my head in fear, t%o matter what happens to me politically or
otherwise. I will do my job as I see my job, when I see fit to do it, as I
see fit ,and I expect Howard Gary to do the same, and I am sure he has. Now, I
am sure that the Black community and the rest of this community understand
that about the way I function. I have been this was persistantly for the 15
years I have served this community when I have had the support of certain seg-
ments of the community; when I have lost support of certain segments of this
community and I will continue to do my job honestly, rightly and justly, and
when I made a statement that I will be working with Howard Gary under those
criteria, I say that in full sincerity. Howard Gary knows that. Howard Gary
is here because of something that I did and - Yes, sir! That is something
that I did when he was in Newark. I was the person responsible for Howard
Gary being employed by the City of Miami and when Howard Gary became an As-
sistant City Manager, that was my doing. Now, I have no apologies to make
for my votes or my feelings, and I think that the situation speaks abundantly
for itself. I thank you for your comments, and I accept it at full face.
Mr. Brown: Mr. Mayor and members of the Commission, my name is Les Brown;
I live at 1331 N. W. 70th Street in Liberty City. I'd like to say, in behalf
of the people that are here, that No. 1, one of the things I have found with
the Mayor - there is an old saying, "Judge a man not by what he does, but
by that that he doesn't have to do" and "to judge the true quality of a man
is what he will do when nobody is looking". Several things have happened that
we can feel very proud of. Three weeks ago I did an editorial on WEDR radio
station relative to the fact that of all the employees that work in the Mayor's
office, none of them were Black. After doing that editorial, I came over to
the Mayor and I talked with him, and he said with no hesitations and reserva-
tions whatsoever - he said "Hey, you are correct, and we are going to deal
with it, and we are going to deal with immediately". He kept his word, and
he hired not just anybody, but a very qualified, capable sister, who is going
to be a tremendous asset to him as an assistant, and who is over here - Carole
Taylor - as the first Black assistant to the Mayor. I applaud you for doing
that; you kept your word. I think we deserve to give him a round of applause
for that. Two weeks ago the Mayor said that there would be a fair and proper
evaluation. No secret that he had some problems with Howard Gary. There is
no secret that the Vice -Mayor, as well had some problems with him. And these
gentlemen, when the public was not looking, they got together and they talked,
and they said "Hey, the bigger picture is the future of this City" and I think
that what has happened here is positive for the City of Miami. I think that
what happened is a blessing. When a bone is broken; when it mends, it is
stronger than what it was before, so I think that when you go from rumors of
being fired to getting a pay increase. that is somethino to recognize. So.
therefore, I think that because of the commitment that they have made by vir-
tue of their vote, and the fact that the City Manager realizes that in poli-
tics, it is the art of compromise. You want something, you have got to be
willing to give up something. He had the foresight and the perceptiveness to
be willing, if it was going to be a major bone of contention, to give up the
contract, because he doesn't need it, because you are his contract. We the
people brought them together; we the people must come down and participate
in this process, not just in times of crisis, but understand that politics
like everything else - there is an old saying that people who live in glass
houses shouldn't throw stones. We, of the Black community must realize that
people who don't participate in a democracy shouldn't complain about the way
that it is being run. Because we were willing to participate; because we
= have been willing to register to vote; because we are now politically aware;
we were able to get some results, so, you have a lot to be proud of and we
are very proud of the disposition as things went, and just thank you very
kindly. Yes, we can; yes, we will; and yes, we did!
Mayor Ferre: Mr. Frazier.
Mr. Frazier: My name is Ronald Frazier and my address is 5800 N. W. 7th Avenue.
As the president of the Miami -Dade Chamber of Commerce, I just want to make a
couple of points as relates to the evaluation process. When you have a con-
_ tractural obligation, it takes two parties to agree to those obligations.
The thing that disturbs me in any evaluation process is when you put together
the evaluation criteria after the facts, although the criteria that I saw, or
got a copy of as it relates to your evaluation, were in areas that are very
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APR 2 01982
Mr. Frazier: (con't) significant. The point is, when it is done after the
fact, then it can be slanted to any point a person would want to go. If this
same process would have been established one day after the contract that Mr.
Gary and the Commission worked out, then both parties would have known those
areas in which they would have been evaluated; therefore they could have
stressed what they were going to do. The other thing is, I view the City as
a corporation, and I know that the Commission can understand what I am talk-
ing about when I say corporation. I view the City Manager as the chief execu-
tive officer of that corporation and his responsibility is to implement the
policy of the board of directors, and I think that the City Commission is that
board of directors. The citizens of the City of Miami, and I keep telling
everybody that the City of Miami is probably most reflective of our tri-ethnic
culture, represents the stockholders in that corporation, which in turn, elects
the board of directors to set policy for the City. I am also aware that the
board of directors must have special attention as it relates to certain items,
but each board member, as it relates to this corporation, which is the City,
only has one vote. If any one of the board of directors in a corporation own
the majority of the stock, then they would have a major voice. As it relates
to this Commission, it is only one voice; each person is equal. And I think
it is the job of this Commission to set policy and the chief administrator to
carry it out. Often there is difference in opinion when and how you carry
out policy. But, that is why you hire a person who is capable of implement-
ing that policy. Whether they agree with you in terms of the policy is not
the point, because you are the policy maker, but in terms of implementation,
the blunt of the bullet falls on them, if in fact, they cannot accomplish the
job; therefore they should be given the latitude to do the job. In terms
of personality and communications and things of this nature, everybody's
makeup is totally different. Communication is a two-way street and I have
read a lot of memos and things in terms of accessibility and I have been here
for about 12 years like H. T., and I have yet to have access to all the for-
mer city managers that were here before me. Now, I don't know whether the
citizens here got a chance to know the category - maybe you read them, I
don't know - but I am going to summarize them, which means there are about
eight categories in which a person is evaluated in terms of his job. Each of
them can be equal in strength, and I think that everybody here has to agree
within the year that Howard has had to take this job, he had to inherit a cer-
tain amount of things which he had to solve. He also inherited somebody else's
team, and I want to make this a big point, because the first thing that a
chief executive officer does in a corporation is put together his management
team, if in fact, he has to do the job. When Pan -Am hired the new executive
director, he had to put his team together; they worked out a relationship of
what those would be to solve that problem, and I think that you have to look
at in terms of Mr. Gary, that he has done a good job as relates to that.
Thank you.
Mayor Ferre: I don't know how many other speakers there are, but I would
imagine there are still a few, so I would appreciate it if you would keep to
the time schedule. When the light starts to blink, you know, that is about
five minutes.
Rev. Johnathan Rolle. 'Yes, sir. I will be through before the light blinks. All
praise is due to God from whom all blessings flow. May His blessing be upon
the just and His mercy upon the i-njust. May He spread in His salvation over
the poor in the time of their distress. I am the Reverend Johnathan Rolle,
President of the Black Cross Liberation Movement. t am here to say to the
City of Miami we had the pleasure to petition you for a Black City Attorney;
we had the pleasure to petition you for a Black City Manager. Now we are look-
ing at the Black City Clerk. I hope that we won't have to petition the City
of Miami for a Black City Clerk.
Ms. Pamela Hernandez: Pamela Hernandez, 641 N. E. 52nd Terrace. I am here to-
day representing several homeowner and civic associations to give a statement
of support for Howard Gary performance evaluation. We feel Mr. Gary has been
both accessible and responsive to the needs of our community. We thank you
for the favorable evaluation given to Mr. Gary - signed by the presidents of
the following organizations: Bob Grille, Belle Meade Homeowner's Association;
Marilyn Reed, Central Grove Homeowner's Association; Steven Young, Redwood
Homeowner's Association; Jackie Belle, New Washington Heights Community Develop-
ment Conference; Grace Rockefellar, Northeast Improvement Association; Patricia
Keller, Allapattah Community Association; Dr. Joseph Lasky, Buena Vista East
Homeowner's Association; Susan Depre, Bay Point Homeowner's Association;
� ? APR 2 01982
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0
Ms. Fernandez: (con't) Betty Graham, Edison -Little River Community Ad-
visory Forum; Ralph Johnson, Grove Civic Club; Janet Cooper, Save Brickell
Avenue Inc.; Carmon Ledesma, Flagami Citizen's Corporation; Marci Ersoff:
Bay Heights Homeowner's Association; Charles Cash, Overtown Community Develop-
ment Board; Pamela Hernandez, Morningside Civic Association. Most of these
people are here, or have been here today; if they would care to stand and be
recognized. Gentlemen, I thank you for your attention.
Mr. Plummer: That is it?
Mayor Ferre: Alright, seeing nobody, I assume we are adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the City Commission,
on motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 3:37 P.M.
MAURICE A. FERRE
Mayor
ATTEST: RALPH G. ONGIE
City Clerk
MATTY HIRAI
Assistant City Clerk
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