Special City Commission Meeting – September 9, 2025: Selection of Executive Search Firm for City Manager
Special City Commission Meeting – September 9, 2025: Selection of Executive Search Firm for City Manager
The Sarasota City Commission held a special meeting on September 9, 2025, from 10:02 A.M. to 1:26 P.M. to interview two finalist firms for the city manager executive search: MGT Impact Solutions (MGT) and Sumter Local Government Consulting (Sumter LGC). After presentations, Q&A, and deliberation, the Commission voted 4-1 to direct staff to hire Sumter LGC for the search.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Martin Hyde (citizen) spoke during Citizens’ Input, criticizing the city’s budget process. He stated that 70% of the general fund is wages and that staff deliberately excluded the cost of a 4% cost-of-living raise, which he calculated would create a nearly $3 million shortfall. He accused staff of obfuscation and called for accountability, saying “heads need to roll.”
- During public comment after the presentations, Martin Hyde again urged the Commission to hire MGT, citing their proposal as stronger and noting the experience of MGT’s Jim Dineen as a former Volusia County manager (population 600,000). He criticized Sumter’s presentation as “a little desperate” and questioned their lack of familiarity with Sarasota.
Discussion Items
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Presentation and Q&A with MGT Impact Solutions (10:08 A.M. – 11:07 A.M.)
- Presenters: Charlene Stevens (Vice President of Human Capital) and Charlie Dineen (Principal, former county manager with 45 years in public sector).
- MGT outlined a six-step recruitment process, emphasizing national reach (1,500+ recruitments, 45 states) and a dedicated team of 36 recruiters. They proposed a fee of $37,000 plus up to $4,000 in expenses and $3,000 estimated travel, totaling $45,000. They offered a one-year guarantee (3% failure rate).
- MGT committed to providing all applicant materials to the Commission and public as required by Florida Sunshine Law. They advised against overly public processes (e.g., town halls) to avoid deterring employed candidates, but would facilitate such events if desired.
- Charlie Dineen stressed the importance of cultural fit and chemistry, noting he would conduct in-person interviews with each commissioner. He also stated that MGT does not actively solicit placed candidates for five years.
- Commissioners asked about candidate sourcing, Florida experience, and transparency. Dineen highlighted his 20 years in Florida and extensive network.
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Presentation and Q&A with Sumter Local Government Consulting (11:21 A.M. – 12:28 P.M.)
- Presenter: Warren Hutmacher (Owner and Principal, former city manager of 15+ years).
- Sumter emphasized a customizable, transparent approach. Fee: $18,000 flat fee plus advertising and travel expenses at cost. They offered a two-year guarantee.
- Hutmacher described an innovative process: a live applicant portal for commissioners, a detailed objective scoring matrix for initial screening, and 45-minute two-way video interviews (not one-way). He proposed community engagement options and background checks that include visiting candidates’ previous communities.
- Hutmacher stated that Sumter would prioritize Sarasota as its only Florida city manager search at that time. He highlighted his firm’s hunger and flexibility, saying “the size of the city is insignificant” to the process.
- Commissioners expressed concern about the low fee and whether it would affect effort. Hutmacher responded that the fee is “inconsequential” and that the firm’s motivation is to build reputation in Florida.
- Hutmacher listed qualities for a city manager: thick skin, courage, integrity, ability to read the room, and a passion for public service.
Key Outcomes
- After deliberation, the Commission voted 4-1 to hire Sumter Local Government Consulting for the city manager search, with Vice Mayor Trice voting no.
- Prior to the final vote, two motions occurred:
- Vice Mayor Trice moved to hire MGT, seconded by Commissioner Battie. After discussion, Commissioner Battie withdrew his second, and the motion died.
- Vice Mayor Trice again moved to hire MGT, but it died for lack of a second.
- Commissioner Ohlrich moved to hire Sumter, seconded by Commissioner Ahearn-Koch. The motion carried 4-1 (Trice opposed).
- Mayor Alpert directed staff to convey the Commission’s sincere appreciation to MGT for their presentation.
- Staff were directed to proceed with engaging Sumter LGC under the terms of their proposal ($18,000 flat fee plus expenses).
Meeting Transcript
Alright, I'm gonna call this uh Tuesday, September 9th, 2025, special city commission meeting to order, and I'm gonna call upon the city auditor and clerk for an invocation. Please standily father, we affirm our faith in thee. We seek your divine strength, wisdom, and guidance in the deliberations that affect the lives of each of the citizens of our community. In our name we pray, amen. I like allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic of which we're God's liberty and justice at all. All right, and are there any changes to the order of the day? No, mayor. All right. Um please read the pledge of public conduct. Thank you. We may disagree what we we will be respectful to one another. We will direct all comments to issues, we will not engage in personal attacks. Okay, we have one person signed up to speak. Uh Martin Hyde. Well, good morning. I uh just wanted to follow up with uh last time. So Charles Ponzi ran an investment scheme, which relied on two things. One was finding new investors to pay the old ones, and the second was knowing that uh many people will suspend their judgment concerning things being too good to be true if that's what they want to believe. In short, the Ponzi scheme requires lazy, willing participants who are prepared to believe that money grows on trees. The last two city managers and the subsequent two interim managers since have kept the city of Sarasota's Ponzi scheme alive by virtue of higher property values and new development covering the new investment aspect, and more worryingly by keeping material facts from you about the sustainability of your budget. This year, city staff, no other way to say it, deliberately excluded your single biggest obligation. Fully 70% of the general fund is wages. You should have known that. They certainly did. The blustering response to Commissioner Koch by Interim Manager Baluk, when she dared to ask what the cost of raises might be was embarrassing. They had nine months to calculate the impact of a cost of living raise based on the payroll total, which I obtained from a record request. It took me less than 30 seconds, once I had the payroll totals to calculate that the cost of a 4% raise will create a close to three million dollar black hole in the budget that you just passed. You are now faced with having to spend reserves meant for emergencies and disasters when the only emergency and disaster is the lack of candor from those preparing the budget. The old question of what did you know and when did you know it applies here? I'll give you the commission of the benefit of the doubt and assume you were unaware of the deliberate obfuscation, but you do know now, and it's time to ask them the same question. Based on the fact that they had this data all along, the answer should be obvious, as should your obligation to make sure it never happens again. Hanging heads in shame isn't enough. Heads need to roll. The question of whether it's staff for obfuscation or commissioners for incompetence at the ballot box is up to you. Thank you. All right. Let's see. All right, our next and really only agenda item is the presentation, the discussion regarding the executive search firm for the city manager search. And I'm gonna call upon City Auditor and Clerk Griggs and City Attorney Polzak to make the presentation. Good morning. Thank you, Commissioners. And um so everybody could be aware we are having some technical difficulties, so please be patient with us on this. Um we thank everybody for being here. Um each search firm has been invited to give a pre a brief presentation followed by questions and answers session from the city commission. The schedule for presentation session interviews will be as followed. Um, our brief little introduction here. Um 10 to 1015. MGT will be from 1015 to 1115 a.m. Sumter will be from 1115 a.m. to 1215 p.m.
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