City of Belle Isle

1. City of Belle Isle Proposed Resolution 14-03

2. City Manager Removal Process • The city manager may be suspended by a resolution approved by the majority of the total membership of the city council. • The resolution shall set forth the reasons for suspension and proposed removal. • A copy of such resolution shall be served immediately upon the city manager. • The city manager shall have fifteen days in which to reply thereto in writing, which reply may include a request for a public hearing.

3. City Manager Removal Process • If no public hearing is requested within fifteen days of the service of the resolution of suspension, the council may adopt a final resolution of removal, which resolution may be made effective immediately. • In the event the city manager requests a public hearing, a hearing shall be held no earlier than ten days nor later than fifteen days after the written request is delivered to the council. At the public hearing and after full consideration of the matters therein presented, the council may, by a majority vote of its total membership, adopt a final resolution of removal, which resolution may be made effective immediately. • The city manager shall continue to receive full compensation through the effective date of the final resolution of removal.

4. Interim City Manager Sec. 2-81. Appointment of interim city manager. In the event of the resignation, suspension, termination or extended absence or disability of the city manager, the city council may by a majority vote appoint an interim city manager who shall be under the direction and supervision of the city council and shall serve at the pleasure of the city council.

5. Paragraph1 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that City Manager Keith Severns has not kept the council informed about the financial state of the City of Belle Isle as required under the Belle Isle City Charter, Section 4.09(H).

6. Financial Condition Sec. 4.09. City manager: Powers and duties. The city manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the city and shall: (H) Keep the council fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the city and make recommendations to the council concerning the affairs of the city.

7. City Council Meeting – 11/5/13 Readey: The Council asked the question to the city manager how much reserve money we had and I believe he said 1.6 million dollars. Severns: No, it would be 1.2… 1.3 million dollars. Readey: 1.3 million dollars. Is that in the form of cash in the bank or does that include this? [referring to Ordinance 13-09 approving $750,000 loan commitment] Severns: No, that does not include this.

8. City Council Meeting – 11/5/13 Readey: What form is that money in? Is it money where we’ve got ready access to it if we had an emergency? Severns: Oh yeah. Yeah. Readey: What would that form be? Severns: I’m sorry?

9. City Council Meeting – 11/5/13 Readey: What form would the money be? Is it in the bank where we can write a check? Severns: Oh, it’s in the bank. It’s cash in the bank. And right now, Harv, I can tell you the bank account balance is somewhere in the 2.2, 2.3 million dollar range. Readey: But a lot of that money is already committed to other things. Severns: Right.

10. City Council Meeting – 11/5/13 Readey: Okay, so this is uncommitted money. Severns: Correct. Readey: About 1.2 million. Severns: Correct.

11. City Council Meeting – 4/1/14 Nielsen: We understand that we have, the City has a million dollars plus in unrestricted funds. Now, is that net position or is that cash? Auditor: Well, you can see if you look on page 13. You can see it’s not really cash. It’s the net… It’s the excess of assets over liabilities. Nielsen: So it’s kind of an accounting concept rather than a real world idea of money in the bank. Auditor: It’s not cash. It’s not money in the bank.

12. City Council Meeting – 4/1/14 Nielsen: Okay, I just wanted to clear that up. Auditor: Plus, if you look on page 13, you can see that even though there’s slightly over a million dollars, only $543,000 of that is unassigned. When you all did the 2014 budget, $532,000 of that fund balance was assigned in the budget, meaning you’re going to treat it as, use it as revenue to offset your expenditures in future years. So you really don’t have a million in unassigned revenue. It’s only half that.

13. 2013 CAFR – Page 13

14. City Council Meeting – 4/30/14 Severns: Well basically, if we were going to spend everything in the CIP, it’s $532,000. Which we’re not going to obviously spend in CIP. Because we can’t afford to sit there and… I mean, these are all the things that everyone wants done, Harv. Everybody wants the streets done. Everybody wants the infrastructure taken care of. That $532,000 comes from the CIP page. Quite frankly, we’re not going to spend a dime of it. We can’t afford to spend a dime on the infrastructure. And that leaves us all like, “What are we going to do with it?” Obviously, we don’t have the dollars to sit there and fund the CIP.

15. 2013-2014 CIP

16. Timeline September 20, 2013: City Council approves 2013-14 budget, and commits $532,000 of City funds to Capital Improvement Projects (CIP). November 5, 2013: Keith Severns informs the Council that Belle Isle has a $1.2-1.3 million reserve that is “cash in the bank” and “uncommitted money,” despite knowing that $532,000 of this alleged reserve was committed to CIP and infrastructure by the Council on September 20. April 1, 2014: Auditor states that City reserve fund is “not cash” and “not money in the bank.” Furthermore, the auditor states that we “really don’t have a million in unassigned revenue. It’s only half that.” April 30, 2014: Severns states for the first time that “We can’t afford to spend a dime on the infrastructure.” “Obviously, we don’t have the dollars to sit there and fund the CIP.”

17. Paragraph 2 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that City Manager Keith Severns has not faithfully executed the will of the City Council as required under the Belle Isle City Charter, Section 4.09(D).

18. Acts of Council Sec. 4.09. City manager: Powers and duties. The city manager shall be the chief administrative officer of the city and shall: (D) See that all laws, provisions of this charter and acts of the council, subject to enforcement by the city manager or by officers subject to the manager's direction and supervision, are faithfully executed.

19. 4/29/14 Email from Pioneer Days Here's something to add to the agenda: Why has City Manager Keith Severns ignored a February vote by city council to issue a donation check to Pine Castle Pioneer Days?  (This was done to smooth feathers after his heavy-handed treatment of the hallmark community event forced organizers to switch venues at the last minute.)  To date, Mr. Severns has not returned calls to inquire about this matter. Is he not bound as an employee of the council to carry-out such directives, especially when they are reaffirmed in publicly recorded meeting minutes?  Or, is it normal procedure under his management to stonewall public charities and delay issuance of checks beyond 90 days?

20. Paragraph 3 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that City Manager Keith Severns has regularly used his City phone for personal business during work hours in violation of the City of Belle Isle Employee Handbook, Section 10.14.

21. Personnel Policies and Procedures 10.14 TELECOMMUNICATIONS A. City telephones and related equipment are to be used only for the performance of City business. Department supervisors are responsible for the proper care, security and usage of telephones and related equipment assigned to their administrative areas.

22. Text Message Records On March 21, 2014, the City provided the City Manager Keith Severns text message records from his City issued phone for the period of 2/21/14 through 3/11/14 records. These records were redacted by Mr. Severns to “reflect those texts not relating to city business.”

23. Text Message Records - Page 1

24. Text Message Records - Page 2

25. Text Message Records - Page 3

26. Text Message Records - Page 4

27. Paragraph4 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that City Manager Keith Severns has not faithfully executed the Belle Isle City Charter, Section 5.12, for not inviting competitive bids on purchases and sales in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00).

28. Requirement to Invite Bids Sec. 5.12. Purchasing. The city manager shall be the purchasing agent for the city, by whom all purchases of supplies shall be made and shall approve all vouchers for the payment of the same. In the capacity of purchasing agent, the city manager shall also conduct the sales of personal property which the council may authorize to be sold as having become unnecessary or unfit for the city's use. All purchases and sales shall conform to such regulations as the city council may from time to time prescribe, but in any case if any amount in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) is involved, at least two (2) competitive bids shall be invited.

29. Purchases Over $10,000

30. Public Records Requests for Bids Request by Sue Nielsen on 12/3/13 “Bids for all City Hall improvements and all city purchases in excess of $10,000 since March 2011 to the present.” Request by Jeremy Weinsier on 4/24/13 “Any and all contracts, invoices, bids, proposals, estimates and invitations for bids, proposals or estimates for any purchases or sales by the City for an amount in excess of $10,000.00 from January 1, 2011 through the present.” To date, no records have been provided by the City in response to either of the above requests.

31. Paragraph 5 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that Keith Severns’ term of office as City Commissioner began in April 2010 and ended in April 2013 pursuant to the Belle Isle City Charter, Section 3.04.

32. Charter Definition of a “Term” Sec. 3.04. Election and terms. The regular election of the city commissioners shall be held on the second Tuesday after the first Monday in March of each year, in the manner provided in Article VI of this charter, and shall be for a term of three (3) years.

33. Another Example of a “Term” Sec. 4.04. Vice-mayor. [abbreviated] In the case of the death, resignation, removal of the mayor, or a prolonged disability that is expected to last beyond the normal term of the mayor, the vice-mayor shall perform the duties of the office of mayor until the next regular election. At the next regular election, an election for a new mayor shall be held for the unexpired portion of the original mayor's term.

34. Conclusion Regarding a “Term” Clearly, a City Commissioner’s term lasts for three years under the City Charter, regardless of whether the Commissioner retires. The phrase “unexpired portion of a term,” as used in the Charter, would be meaningless if a City official’s term expired on the date of resignation.

35. Paragraph 6 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that Keith Severns is ineligible for appointment to the office of City Manager until two (2) years following the end of his term of office in April 2013 pursuant to the Belle Isle City Charter, Section 4.07.

36. Former Commissioner Ineligible Sec. 4.07. City manager. The city council shall appoint a city manager who shall be under the direction and supervision of the city council, and shall hold office at the pleasure of the city council. The city manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications and need not be a resident of the city or state at the time of appointment. The city manager's salary shall be fixed by the city council. A person who has served as a commissioner or mayor of the city shall be ineligible for appointment to the office of city manager for two years following the end of the term of office.

37. Proposed Paragraph 7 WHEREAS, the City Council has found that Keith Severnsdoes not meet the minimum job qualifications required to serve as City Manager.

38. City Manager Job Description V. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS A. Bachelors Degree from an accredited College/University with a major in Business or Public Administration or related field, plus five years experience in progressively responsible management positions in local government. B. ICMA-Credentialied Manager (current/active). • Five years supervisory or managerial experience in a related field. • Possession of a valid Florida Operator’s License.