Tracy Smith brought in as interim town manager: Havana seeks more applicants for town manager position

A nearly two-hour meeting, and a packed room at the Havana Town Council’s special meeting on January 10 was the result of councilmembers’ discussion regarding the still-unfilled town manager position.

The position was left vacant late last year after the resignation of former manager, Brad Johnson.

As of the January 10 meeting, council members had advertised the position twice, and had only netted a combined 11 applicants for the job - leaving council members wondering whether to proceed with a third round of advertising or go with the applicants they had received.

Since Johnson’s resignation, Howard McKinnon (who served as town manager prior to Johnson) had been brought in to serve as an interim - McKinnon’s last day of availability to the town as its manager, however, was January 12.

The meeting on January 10 started with council members discussing the 11 applicants they had received during the two rounds of advertisement.

Councilwoman Jenny Stone stated that while the council had received several applicants with sound resumes, they also had a large number of applicants who lacked the necessary training and experience to start as town managers.

Councilman Ed Bass echoed Stone’s statements, adding that he was “disappointed” with the response the town had received from applicants.

“I really thought we would have gotten some people who were better qualified,” said Bass.

“I don’t think any of the applicants fit the town perfectly,” said councilman Dwight Vickers. “We can’t keep postponing and postponing and postponing, but you do have to wonder…do you take a chance on someone you could kinda mold into the position?”

Vickers added that he was uncertain on the direction the town should take.

Councilman Nick Bert also expressed disappointment.

“We had very good people apply, I know some of them, but as far as experience, we have had very few apply,” Bert said. “We need someone who knows what they are doing.”

Bert said that of the 11 applicants the town had received, only three truly met the experience criteria needed to run a town as its manager.

“That’s not a very big pool to pick from.”

Havana’s Interim Town Manager and former Chief of Police Tracy Smith

Councilman Decorkous Allen had a differing opinion - according to Allen, the town had “very well qualified” people apply for the position and he did not see a reason the town should “continue to prolong” the hiring of a town manager.

“We need to elect someone who can do the job,” said Allen. “It seems like we keep wanting to prolong things; it’s enough of that. People are tired of this and it’s time for us to move forward.”

“I will not stand idly by and watch this go on,” Allen added. “How long are we going to continue to do this?”

Allen said that the town should look at the applicants they had received, as the applicants “were qualified”.

Stone questioned that - asking “have they?” to Allen’s statement of saying the applicants had met the town’s standards for a town manager.

Likewise, Councilwoman Warkeen Jordan (who attended the meeting virtually) stated that she felt the town could make a selection from its 11 applicants, and the council had no need to go out for a third advertising round.

“I looked at all the applications, and I ranked them. I came up with five applicants that were ranked with more experience and had been on the job for a long time,” said Jordan. “I don’t think we need to go out for more. Some of them had some very strong experience.”

Jordan added that she believed this process had already been prolonged for too long.

Both Bass and Bert stated that while they personally liked their last town manager (Johnson), they admitted they had hired him without knowing if he had the qualifications to run a town - comments made insinuated that Johnson was “in over his head” with running the the Town of Havana, leading to his departure from the position…something the council did not want to replicate when hiring another manager.

Bert stated that he felt as though the town should readvertise; Stone added to Bert’s statement, saying that the town began advertising over the holidays, and that could have impacted the reception of applicants for the position.

“When Mr. Johnson resigned in October, that put our backs against the wall,” stated Councilwoman and Mayor Janice Hart; according to Hart, the average job-searching period for this type of position was 3-6 months.

While she believed the council did its due diligence in advertising the position, Hart agreed that the 11 applicants were not a very large pool for the town to select from.

With that statement, Hart informed the council that they could either choose to rank the applicants they had received, or proceed in continuing the search.

Regardless of the decision, Hart announced that Tracy Smith - Havana’s Chief of Police - had agreed to take on the mantle of interim town manager at the end of McKinnon’s term.

“I, personally and professionally, would not put my name on someone I don’t feel comfortable with,” said Hart.

Bass asked the council if they would be willing to bring the Florida League of Cities’ group of retired town managers in to ‘headhunt’ a candidate for the Town of Havana.

McKinnon explained to the town the process of which that would entail: the retired managers would want to come in and host a meeting with the town council, and gather information about the sort of duties and requirements the town would expect from a manager applicant.

From there, McKinnon said the retired managers would personally seek out applicants for the town.

“I don’t know how much they charge for that, but it isn’t a whole lot of money,” McKinnon admitted, adding that that option could be “productive and fruitful” if the town wanted to proceed in searching for candidates.

“They match the candidate to the community,” said McKinnon. “To be successful, that’s what you really need to do.”

Bert, Bass, and Stone stated that they liked that option.

Allen asked the council to determine what it was exactly they were looking for by extending the search - adding that the Town of Havana would not be capable of competing with larger municipalities.

Bert stated that the town needed to find a manager who the town would not have to train for the job - not something he saw the majority of applicants.

Stone said she wanted an applicant with sufficient experience leading a municipality and hadn’t been fired for doing a bad job in that municipality.

Input from that citizens in the room was also mixed: Jerome Harris stated that he felt the town should go with the applicants they had received and hire the best from that bunch, while Stacy Henderson stated the town’s search was likely hindered by the holidays and the search needed to go in order to find the best fit for Havana.

Bass made a motion to further the search, employing the Florida League of Cities; Bert seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous among the councilmembers.

Next on the agenda, the council officially placed former police chief Tracy Smith as the town’s interim manager.

The agreement between Smith and the town was that he will take on the position, filling it until the town hires a permanent manager, and then he will return to his position as chief.

In the meantime, Lieutenant Kenny Lewis will be the town’s acting police chief until the January regular meeting, later in the month, at which point Smith will select an interim chief to serve until his return.

Brief concerns were stated by citizens - primarily that this would cause a disruptive ‘transition’ in Havana’s law enforcement and that the town was removing Smith as the head of the police department (which the town assured would be a temporary removal).

“He does not want it full time,” said Bass. “He is willing to serve until we find someone for full time.”

Despite those concerns, when the council voted to place Smith as the interim town manager, it was unanimous, with several “aye” votes echoing from the audience as well.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the council members thanked McKinnon for his return as a town manager, and thanked Smith for stepping up to an interim role, thus giving the town time to find the best fit.

“We want to get the right person in here,” said Bert. “But as far as the interim, we are in a good place.”

Smith began his role as the interim town manager on January 12.

Ashley Hunter - editor@gadsdencountytimes.com

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Tracy Smith brought in as interim town manager: Havana seeks more applicants for town manager position

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