McNees Responds to Concerns Regarding Personnel Losses

The Marco Island City council meeting was a relatively calm and uneventful one, or at least until it reached towards the end of the agenda. Earlier in the meeting the issue of personnel changes were touched upon during council discussions. That short exchange brought forth a response from City Manager McNees that he would address that issue as part of his “Manager’s Report,” at the end of the meeting.

That issue and others had, in fact, been the so-called “elephant in the room” all evening, as a memo sent to all city employees late last week had been widely circulated. That correspondence was an attempt by McNees to quell concerns from staff as well as some councilors over a rising sense of concern the last couple of weeks.

In that memo McNees would write the following.

“To all City Employees - Most things happen in cycles, and that applies to the coming and going of City employees. With Laura Litzan, Tim Pinter, soon Dave Batiato, and not long-ago Dave Baer taking retirement we’ve certainly seen change in our management team. For many different reasons other employees have moved on as well; for bigger opportunities, to be closer to home, or to lessen the daily commute. I thank each and every one of those people for their efforts on behalf of the City and wish them great success at their next stops. That said, Southwest Florida is a somewhat transient place, and we’re certainly not immune to that here on Marco.

What’s a little different with this recent cycle is the level of concern that’s been expressed to me about what some fear is a growing trend, one that could lead to an inability for us to get our job done. In discussing these factors with a number of people I’ve been told that I don’t seem worried. A couple have implied that I should be more so than I am. In response, I offer that I’m not wired to be a worrier, in fact that would be a serious impediment in my job. But even more importantly than that, I know all of you. I know that you will keep the wheels of the City turning, and our residents will continue to receive the quality of services they deserve. You are not wired to drop the ball, and you have not. I am not worried that you will.”

He would go on to write that Assistant City Manager Casey Lucas was in the process of addressing issues which have been brought up in the employee survey. “That is not to say that either the executive management team, the City Council or I take that for granted. Casey Lucius is coordinating our work to implement the things you asked for in replying to our employee survey,” wrote McNees.

McNees would also address the need for council to take a hard look at their position during budget deliberations in regard to their steadfast position regarding holding the line on the issue concerning “roll-back,” during budgeting. This is due to the highly competitive atmosphere in regard to protecting employee assets from opportunistic raids by other municipal or private sector entities seeking skilled employees.

The employee survey and those results will be released and discussed at a future council meeting.