City Commission selects Kristen Bryant as Interim City Clerk

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At their June 15 meeting, the Gainesville City Commission selected Kristen Bryant from three applicants to be the Interim City Clerk, at a salary between $112k and $143k.

Three internal candidates were considered for the position: Agenda Coordinator Kristen Bryant, Deputy Clerk Zanorfa Lynch, and Compensation Analyst Chianti Powe.

Kristen Bryant

Bryant has a bachelor’s degree from UF (no major listed) and a J.D. from Loyola University College of Law. She worked as an attorney in Louisiana from 2003-2006, then became Assistant Director of the Center for Career Development at the UF Levin College of Law in 2008. From 2011-2019, she was Director of Children and Youth Ministries at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Gainesville, then she became an Executive Assistant for Gainesville City Commissioners in 2019. She became Acting Agenda Coordinator in September 2022 and Agenda Coordinator in February 2023; she also coordinates the advisory boards. She is a little over halfway through her educational credits in a program to become a Certified Municipal Clerk.

Zanorfa Lynch

Lynch has a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from UF and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from FIU. She is on track to graduate this fall with a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Miami. Her first job was a temporary clerical position at Santa Fe College in 2002, then she worked for an insurance agency until 2011. She was hired as a Staff Specialist by Gainesville Police Department in 2011, was hired as the Equal Opportunity Office Coordinator in the City of Gainesville Office of Equity & Inclusion in 2015, became the Executive Coordinator in the City Manager’s Office in 2018, and became Deputy Clerk in October 2022. She is also a little over halfway through her educational credits in a program to become a Certified Municipal Clerk. Lynch has begun the two-year process of becoming certified under the International Institute of Municipal Clerks and belongs to several Clerks Associations.

Chianti Powe

Powe has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the same university, and is currently working on a Doctorate in Business Administration from St. Leo University. She worked as a Human Resources Coordinator, Executive Assistant for Allegheny County, and Research Administrator for the University of Pittsburgh, all in Pennsylvania, before working at temporary human resources jobs in Gainesville starting in 2010. In 2013, she became the Human Resource Manager for the Florida Agency for Persons with Disabilities in Gainesville, then became a Unit Manager for Waffle House Inc. in 2017. She took a job as Staffing Coordinator for North Central Florida Hospice in 2018, then became an Assistant Store Manager for Fast Track Stores and was hired as a Compensation Analyst for the City of Gainesville later in 2018.

Discussion on candidate and salary range

In introducing the agenda item, Mayor Harvey Ward reminded everyone that they were selecting someone for the Interim Clerk position and that the City Commission will take up the issue of whether to keep the Clerk as an independent Charter Officer this fall.

Human Resources Director Laura Graetz told the commission that four candidates submitted resumes, but only three met the minimum requirements for the position.

Apparently referring to his negotiations with Acting Director of Equity & Inclusion Zeriah Folston following a request from City Commissioners for more information on an appropriate salary range in February, Ward asked commissioners to propose a salary along with any motion to hire one of the applicants: “I don’t want to have the same situation that we had with previous negotiations–ongoing negotiation.”

Graetz said the recommended salary range for the City Clerk goes from a minimum of $112,463 to a midpoint of $143,390 and up to a maximum of $174,317. The outgoing City Clerk makes $157,781.43.

Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut said all three candidates “are prepared academically and professionally,” but her priority was experience with the budget, “and I was impressed with the experience brought to the table by Ms. Lynch.” Chestnut was also impressed with Lynch’s experience in supervising staff “and building a very good team,” along with communication skills and supervision skills and her initiative in joining professional organizations. Chestnut made a motion to hire Lynch at a salary around the midpoint of the range provided by Graetz. There was no second to the motion, but Commissioner Ed Book said he’d rather separate the motions and decide who to hire before discussing the salary, so Chestnut suggested that he make that motion.

Graetz suggested selecting a candidate and then directing the Human Resources office to conduct a salary analysis based on the candidate’s experience and provide a recommended salary, but Ward said they didn’t have time for that because the current Clerk’s last day is June 30, and the next City Commission meeting is in July. Graetz then recommended that the commission go “no higher than the midpoint of the range” because the midpoint is typically for someone who has been in a position for at least seven years.

Ward decided to split the decision and asked for a motion recommending a candidate. Commissioner Reina Saco said she would not be supporting Chestnut’s motion because “Ms. Lynch is wonderful, and I think she’s been great as a Deputy. But my goal was more to look for someone with institutional memory within the Clerk’s office; I think another candidate currently has that… I think that will be worth its weight in gold as we try to determine what to do long-term.”

Following some discussion, Commissioner Bryan Eastman seconded Chestnut’s motion.

Ward said, “I’m happy with whoever we choose… There are specific things that I took into account… We have an opportunity with candidates who bring more experience outside the Clerk’s office and a range of other things and a candidate who brings a depth of experience in the Clerk’s Office and in these offices here, dealing with this on a multi-year basis. And I leaned toward the multi-year basis… I just leaned toward Ms. Bryant’s depth of years in supporting the office.”

Eastman said he was also initially leaning toward someone who could “work sort of interdepartmentally and would know the organization-wide part of it”; he said he would support the motion on the floor but would be “very happy to go in a different direction” if the motion failed.

The vote to select Lynch failed, 3-4, with Book, Chestnut, and Eastman in support of the motion.

Eastman made a motion to negotiate with Bryant, and Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker seconded the motion, with Saco chiming in just behind her. The vote for Bryant was 6-1, with Chestnut in dissent.

Commissioner Casey Willits made a motion to negotiate with Bryant for a salary between the minimum ($112k) and the midpoint ($143k) for the Clerk and also pay for her continued education toward becoming a Certified Municipal Clerk. Eastman seconded the motion. The vote in favor of the motion was unanimous. Bryant’s current salary is $67,000.