Gainesville City Commission narrowly votes to kill potential Charter amendment that would allow Commissioners to supervise staff

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the March 12 General Policy Committee meeting, several Gainesville City Commissioners said they would like additional administrative and policy support, and they discussed various solutions, including an expanded internship program, a Charter amendment that would allow Commissioners to directly supervise staff, and modified job descriptions for Executive Assistants. 

The only business discussion item for the meeting was a ballot referendum that would ask voters to approve a Charter amendment allowing City Commissioners to have interns. 

Discussion arose from Commissioner Book’s attempt to hire an intern

City Attorney Daniel Nee said that although the City itself has interns, there are “challenges” with allowing Commissioners to have interns, including provisions in the City’s Charter prohibiting Commissioners from hiring, terminating, or supervising an employee; only Charter Officers have those powers. Article 2.10 of the Charter states, “Except for the purpose of an inquiry, the commission and its members, including the mayor, must deal with employees of the city solely through their respective charter officers, and neither the commission nor any commissioner, including the mayor, may give orders to any subordinates of the charter officers, either publicly or privately.”

Mayor Harvey Ward said that interns for Commissioners are “not real common among cities our size.” 

Commissioner Ed Book: “The real benefit is, we’re developing future leaders, right?”

Commissioner Ed Book, who started the most recent discussion about the issue because he wanted to hire a specific intern, said internships provide a benefit because they “really develop people for the future… The real benefit is, we’re developing future leaders, right?”

City Manager Andrew Persons said several City departments have interns, and they’re all paid; they’re currently paid through the University of Florida, and in the past, they’ve been paid by the Bob Graham Center and the City Clerk’s Office.

City Clerk Kristen Bryant said there was a policy research program in the past, with six to eight interns, overseen by the Policy Research Administrator. She said she still has space for interns, and the Commission could bring back the policy research program without needing a Charter amendment.

Commissioners have shared Executive Assistants who work for the Clerk’s Office

Ward clarified, “Nobody’s talking about implementing something immediately” because it is currently not possible under the Charter to create a position that answers to an individual Commissioner or the Mayor. The Mayor and Commissioners currently have Executive Assistants who work for the Clerk’s Office. 

Commissioner Bryan Eastman said, “I think the question is, as we grow as a city, and as we continue to remain part-time Commissioners — at some point, there’s likely to be a time when we are going to want to have more people that would extend out those legislative duties.” He suggested a small change to Article 2.10 that would allow, “by ordinance, the ability for a future Commission to determine an internship program or a structure… [so Commissioners] would be able to give direction in specific ways… Obviously, we do have people that work for the Clerk and do things on our behalf, and I think having that be clear in the Charter makes a lot of sense.”

Commissioner James Ingle was concerned that a paid intern could replace the Executive Assistant positions in the budget; he had “a lot of concerns about replacing bargaining units, career employees, with somebody who’s coming in to get some work experience and learn a new idea.”

Commissioner James Ingle: “I’m very concerned about putting career bargaining unit jobs in jeopardy and replacing them with an intern volunteer situation.”

Ingle pointed out that Commissioners direct the Executive Assistants (EA): “While it technically is true that they don’t work for me, it’s only a technicality. Any time I’ve asked my EA for something, it’s come through fine.” He supported the model that previously allowed interns to staff a policy department, but he said there was the “potential for abuse” if interns worked directly on behalf of Commissioners. He also said the interns would “obviously” talk to each other about things, and “you’ve got weird Sunshine stuff that can go on.” He concluded, “I’ve got a lot of concerns about just an intern program where they’re reporting to me specifically, as opposed to an intern that is coming in here to learn how policy works and other things. I’m very concerned about putting career bargaining unit jobs in jeopardy and replacing them with an intern volunteer situation.”

Commissioner Casey Willits on being unable to directly supervise Executive Assistants: “It has 100% restricted my ability to do everything I thought and hoped and dreamed for in this position, because I had to ask permission to ask the person who’s here to help me.”

Commissioner Casey Willits said Commissioners can “kindly ask” their EAs to do specific tasks, but “it has felt overly restrictive. It has 100% restricted my ability to do everything I thought and hoped and dreamed for in this position, because I had to ask permission to ask the person who’s here to help me… I can’t really ask them to do things I want them to do for me, not because those things are illegal in any other way, besides the fact that the Charter says we can’t direct them.” 

Willits said that budget constraints would prevent them from hiring additional staff in the near future, “but in the future, a future where the budget is a little more forgiving, I would like to be able to enable future Commissions — because it’s probably not going to be me that ever gets to see that.” He said, however, that “legislative aides” could “do things at the direction of a Commissioner, so they can build what they’re working on, and they would not be split between Commissioners, as the EAs are. 

Willits: Legislative aides could represent Commissioners at community meetings

Willits said the City Manager “gets to appoint their right-hand people,… [but] the Commission doesn’t… It would help to have some say over who you’re going to work with… So I lean toward the idea of paid interns… It’s not a crazy idea.” He said these aides could attend meetings and report back to a Commissioner or even make a statement on the Commissioner’s behalf. He said that if they don’t move forward with interns, he would support revitalizing the policy research team.

Willits: “Commissioners don’t have people that they can do this with — one on one, go through the iterations, get the community feedback, have newsletters, have really active social media. An aide would enable all those things to happen.”

Willits continued, “My personal opinion is that I don’t think we’ve been nearly bold and innovative enough with some of our stuff [over the] past several years. And I think one of the reasons that it suffers is because Commissioners don’t have people that they can do this with — one on one, go through the iterations, get the community feedback, have newsletters, have really active social media. An aide would enable all those things to happen… So I think it would be really beneficial and give more of the power back to the Commission to make the policies,… and then let staff and Charters implement those policies, as is their job.”

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker: “I think obviously everybody would love to have more help.”

Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said, “I think obviously everybody would love to have more help.” She asked whether EAs could represent Commissioners at local events, “sit in our stead, go to meetings in the public, take notes.”

Human Resources Director Laura Graetz said she didn’t have the EA job description in front of her to look at the specifics about attending meetings for Commissioners, but Commissioners could discuss “whether that’s something that’s permissible.” She cautioned Commissioners, though, that “it’s one thing to go to a meeting and take notes and… report back,” but the employee would not represent Commissioners as individuals; they would “represent the organization.”

Duncan-Walker: “We want a little more flexibility. We want some representation. We want policy.”

Duncan-Walker said she had valued the work of the policy research team, and she supported allowing staff to have a conversation about bringing that back, but she was concerned about the cost. She also supported hiring more EAs if that worked with the budget, but she suggested that a future Commission could move forward with legislative aides if that was a priority for that Commission. She suggested that the Clerk’s Office might be willing to rearrange some things “because they hear the needs that we have: We want a little more flexibility. We want some representation. We want policy.”

Mayor Harvey Ward: “There will be a point at which the very reasonable expectation of the community, to get constituent services and things like that done, outstrips the ability of the Commission to meet those expectations.”

Ward said he was interested in “clearing a path” for future Commissions when the city is larger and “expects more from the people they elect.” He said it would take about 18 months to make any changes to the Charter and budget, and agreed that there is currently no budget available to hire additional staff: “The reason we don’t have policy interns now, that department, is because we can’t afford it… There will be a point at which the very reasonable expectation of the community, to get constituent services and things like that done, outstrips the ability of the Commission to meet those expectations.”

Clarification on the extent of Commissioners’ ability to direct staff

Ingle asked for clarification: “I [give instructions to the EA] all the time. I call and ask to have something put on my calendar, or ‘Could this be done?’, or ‘Could that be done?'”

Nee said those tasks are “not the sort of direction, I think, that’s contemplated.” He said EAs are supervised by the Clerk, and they do tasks that are within their job description, like answering the phone, taking messages, maintaining Commissioners’ calendars, and helping with correspondence. He said, “That may sound like a semantic difference, but I think there is a real difference there… I don’t see those as being direction-type things that are contemplated by the Charter.”

Eastman asked Nee explicitly, “Could we, as City Commissioners, have an intern that comes in at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesdays, meets with us, talks with us about the work that we’re doing at any given time — Could that be done currently within our process?”

Nee responded, “I think the key is that the supervisory authority… couldn’t go to the elected official. If it was arranged such that it’s through the Clerk, through any other Charter Officer, then yes.”

Bryant said the Clerk’s Office could “dive into the current job description and see if there’s any gaps that we need to be filling… We are absolutely in the process of doing that… It sounds like there is a real need for more robust support for you all in the short term.” She said her office could also provide oversight to interns or temporary paid employees to help Commissioners with policy research and added, “I’m open to thinking creatively and outside the box.” She also clarified that her direction to the EAs is, “Support the Commission… So when you’re asking them [to do various administrative tasks],… you are technically not directing them. They are fulfilling the tasks that I directed them to do.”

Ward said, “I don’t think anybody has said… the system doesn’t work, or been critical of EAs. We’re talking about elevating the systems to a different place, because the City is going to grow.” He said Commissioners cannot work on constituent services if they are out meeting with people all day and concluded, “I think it’s a useful discussion to have now. If it doesn’t move forward — cool.”

Willts: “[The current situation] is an example of an intricate bureaucratic system stymying the will of the voters… Because… we are the will of the voters.”

Willits said he has had seven EAs in three years and two months: “I don’t know that anybody in a management position would feel happy if their assistant had switched seven times.” He said the current system is “an example of an intricate bureaucratic system stymying the will of the voters… Because… we are the will of the voters. Bureaucratic systems are difficult,… and having someone I can direct to… help me cut through this would be highly helpful.”

Commissioner Ed Book: “I think it behooves us, as a community, to have an internship program that supports the Commission, that is not some great budgetary impact, and that works for those students.”

Book said that while all the other aspects mentioned by the other Commissioners “are important and may prepare us for the future,” he was narrowly focused on the internship component. He said he was not interested in adding to the budget, especially given the 30 or so positions that are currently frozen. He continued, “Interns are not a replacement for staff expertise,… but there is a tremendous benefit to, primarily, the students at the University of Florida, Santa Fe College,… to get that [experience]… I think it behooves us, as a community, to have an internship program that supports the Commission, that is not some great budgetary impact, and that works for those students.” He said his experience has been that students are “far more interested… in the academic credit… than getting the $15 an hour or whatever.”

First motion

Book made a motion to “direct City staff to bring back the framework for an internship program for the Commission, operated and supervised by the City Clerk.” He said it might cost too much, and staff might say the Charter would need to be changed, “but I think that might allow us to get the information.” Duncan-Walker seconded the motion.

Ingle: “For me, it’s a matter of — there’s not enough resources being put into somebody who is there full-time for a specific Commissioner… We’ve got a smaller staff than we need to accomplish the work that we’re doing.”

Ingle said, “For me, it’s a matter of — there’s not enough resources being put into somebody who is there full-time for a specific Commissioner… We’ve got a smaller staff than we need to accomplish the work that we’re doing.” He clarified that he was not asking the Clerk to ask the current staff to do more “until we put more resources into it.”

Ingle: “I’ve heard that college-credit-versus-the-paycheck argument a lot. I think one of the things that gets overlooked in that is that it cuts out the people that need to make a living.”

Regarding interns, Ingle said, “I’ve heard that college-credit-versus-the-paycheck argument a lot. I think one of the things that gets overlooked in that is that it cuts out the people that need to make a living… If you’re the type of student that also has to have a job, then you don’t get those opportunities, because you have to go out and earn a living.” He said internships should be paid and added that he was “skeptical” about the Charter amendment at this time.

Over 100 applicants for 18 intern positions

Persons said the City currently has 18 intern positions, and the University of Florida said there were over 100 applicants for those positions; he added that job descriptions could be updated because “it sounds like there may be somewhat of a mismatch between… the Executive Assistant job description and what the Commission [wants].”

Ingle said long-term EAs would be more valuable than short-term interns. 

Eastman: “Our structures right now, in many ways, are designed around us being a city that’s about a quarter of our size… We’re expected to do a lot up here… Our constituents reach out to us and expect us to follow up with them.”

Eastman said, “We have a motion that’s on the table, but going back to kind of the broader discussion,… this comes up every couple of years. I kind of wish Commissioner (Cynthia) Chestnut was here, because we talked about this six years ago on the Charter Review Commission, where the discussion was about the hiring of staff for the Commission. And I think a lot of this comes down to the fact… that we are a small city that is now a medium-sized city that is growing… And our structures right now, in many ways, are designed around us being a city that’s about a quarter of our size… We’re expected to do a lot up here… Our constituents reach out to us and expect us to follow up with them.”

Eastman discussed the meetings they all attend, including in the community, and added, “We’re the main people that bring new policies forward…  We are the ones who are reviewing contracts, reviewing a lot of the backup, making these kinds of broad decisions, and we do so as a part-time role. And so for some of us, that is easier than others. I run a business, so I have more flexibility… I think it’s worth continuing to have a conversation about [this].”

Book’s motion passed 6-0, with Commissioner Chestnut absent.

Ward said, “This will come back up again… I’m kind of tired of talking about it.”

Commissioner Casey Willits: “In this community, we’re college-oriented, but not everyone goes to college, and those people should have an ability to help and impact policy. So I like the idea of a paid internship.”

Willits said he wanted to say more about “paid versus unpaid… In this community, we’re college-oriented, but not everyone goes to college, and those people should have an ability to help and impact policy. So I like the idea of a paid internship.” He said he also supports putting the Charter amendment on the ballot in November because it’s a long-term process, and he thinks most people believe that Commissioners already have dedicated assistants. 

Second motion

Eastman noted that a supermajority vote is required to put a Charter amendment on the ballot and made a motion to “direct the City Attorney to review the proposed language for a narrow exception to the City Charter to allow Commission support personnel and bring back the proposed language.” Willits seconded the motion.

Ward: “If you think there’s a chance you could vote to put this on a ballot, I invite you to vote yes on it. I will vote yes on it. But if you don’t see your mind being changed going forward, then let’s kill it today.”

Ward said, “We often will vote yes to move things forward, to have another discussion about it, with sometimes no intention of voting for it… If you think there’s a chance you could vote to put this on a ballot, I invite you to vote yes on it. I will vote yes on it. But if you don’t see your mind being changed going forward, then let’s kill it today.”

Book said, “A charter revision is a big, big deal, and putting things on the ballot is a big deal. So we need to reserve it for our greatest needs for the City.”

The motion failed 3-3, with Book, Duncan-Walker, and Ingle in dissent. Ward said, “For those watching at home, a tie vote is a no vote.”

Third motion

Clerk Kristen Bryant said she would like to have a motion to review the job descriptions of the Executive Assistant, and Duncan-Walker said, “So moved.” Willits seconded the motion. The motion passed 6-0, with Chestnut absent.

Eastman said, “I don’t necessarily have a problem with the current job descriptions. This was genuinely forward-looking… I think, as it currently stands, we have many positions that need to get filled, and we’re at capacity, pretty much, at the Clerk’s office, but if you want to take a look at that, that’s perfectly fine.”