Difficult Issues Dealt With During Council Workshop

City Council would meet on October 21 in a workshop forum to discuss two separate issues in an attempt to bring some clarity as to how to proceed on those issues. In August they requested that Councilor Greg Folley review the challenges regarding a standardized evaluation moving forward regarding the job performance of the City Manager.

This one particular issue has been one which has been a challenge for councilors over the 25 years since incorporation. Year after year councilors have struggled as to how to proceed with that task and there has been no specific evaluation system created by which council has settled on.

In the report given by Folley to his colleagues it quickly became evident that Marco Island is not alone in that struggle. Folley would note in this initial report back to council the following: “Interestingly, only one of the nine performance evaluation processes reviewed had any reference to annual performance goals, and the sample form from the City Manager’s Association had no reference to annual goals. In my mind, the absence of specific annual goals is a big deficiency,” said Folley in his initial report.

During his fact-finding, Councilor Folley did obtain a number of City/County Manager evaluation forms from Florida and other jurisdictions.

Councilor Babrowski’s assessment of the process did point out that both she and Councilor Folley did believe that improvements could be made in the goal setting process and subsequent review of those outcomes as part of that review process which should be ongoing.

This initial report would provide councilors with some initial goals and objectives for the following 2022-2023 fiscal year which Folley had discussed with City Manager McNees as a starting point.

• Fiscal Management - 30%

• • Work with council to enact a balanced FY 2022-2023 budget following the adopted City Budget Policy.

• • Scheduled progress of major capital projects on budget, including specifically Fire Station 50, Veterans Community Park, and the continuing transition to the new City Hall Annex building.

• Water Quality – 30% 

• Advance the consideration of strategies for water quality improvements as recommended in the consultants’ reports. Present capital projects and other initiatives for Council approval in furtherance of that objective.

• • • ✓ Develop aeration pilot project and projects removing contaminants from canal floors.
    • ✓ Prioritize locations for pilot projects and identify opportunities for grant funding.
    • ✓ Initiate a hydraulic study to identify optimum areas for interconnective culverts on dead end canals to increase water flow.
    • ✓ Conduct additional water testing in Marco River and Gulf of Mexico.
    • ✓ Initiate DEP “4e” process.
  • Work with Council to define measurable and practical objectives for the Water Quality Program as data is available.

• Leadership/HR – 15%

• Ensure the City of Marco Island is an attractive and competitive employer in the Southwest Florida market.

• • • ✓ Expand Supervisory Training.
    • ✓ Ensure that each direct report has the appropriate skills, experience, and culture fit to contribute to continuous improvement in delivery of city services.
    • ✓ Implement mentorship program as identified by Employee Focus Group.
    • ✓ Identify plan to differentiate and increase pay for high performers.

• Community Engagement – 25%

• Effectively implement transient rental registration program.

• Enhance My Marco mobile app to improve utilization and communication with residents. 

• • • ✓ Develop metrics for monthly uses and individual users.

Councilor Babrowski would further expand her desire to see how we would measure the “outcomes” of the goals council would be expecting.

Council would review a number of other options and would further expand on these discussions in the future.

Workforce Housing Discussions

Workforce housing would also be another difficult discussion, as the reality of those challenges continue to be a perplexing issue, not only on the island, but throughout Southwest Florida, as businesses throughout our area are all struggling.

Councilors would all agree that some type of regional look at the issue would be the best way forward and it would have to involve a heavy lift by Collier County if the region were to make progress on the issue. 

A combination of housing as well as transportation options may have to be looked at jointly as we move forward.