City of Deltona  
2345 Providence Blvd.  
Deltona, FL 32725  
Minutes  
City Manager Selection Committee  
Thursday, April 4, 2024  
1. CALL TO ORDER:  
6:00 PM  
Deltona Commission Chambers  
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Chair D'Errico.  
2. ROLL CALL  
Present:11 - Chair Tara Derrico  
Member Rachel. Amoroso  
Member Kathy Bryan  
Member Frank DeLisa  
Member Jeff Fickes  
Member Larry French  
Member Terry Haines  
Member Carolyn Hickerson  
Member Edwin Lasanta  
Member Chris C. Nabicht  
Member Emma Sanitago  
Absent:1 - Member Courtney Hannon  
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES & AGENDA:  
A.  
Approval of the City Manager Selection Committee minutes for January  
18, 2024.  
Motion by Kathy Bryan, seconded by Emma Sanitago, to approve the  
minutes of February 1, 2024. The motion carried by the following vote:  
For:11 - Chair Derrico, Member Amoroso, Member Bryan, Member  
DeLisa, Member Fickes, Member French, Member Haines,  
Member Hickerson, Member Lasanta, Member Nabicht and  
Member Sanitago  
4. BUSINESS:  
A.  
Discussion and selection of five (5) City Manager finalists and possibly  
two (2) alternates to be forwarded to the City Commission.  
Chair D'Errico explained the process for the meeting and ranking the committee  
members' selections.  
The Committee members and Lynelle Klein with Colin Baenziger & Associates  
discussed ranking their top five (5) selections, how the ranking will take place, ranking at  
least one alternate, the Commission's decision, a candidate without city experience,  
recommending candidates not on the list of finalists, the information received, and the  
process.  
Motion by Member Nabicht, seconded by Member Bryan, to do the ballot  
form with the name and turn them into the City Clerk to tally. The motion  
carried by the following vote:  
For:11 - Chair Derrico, Member Amoroso, Member Bryan, Member  
DeLisa, Member Fickes, Member French, Member Haines,  
Member Hickerson, Member Lasanta, Member Nabicht and  
Member Sanitago  
Member Hickerson stated the two candidates she had issues with. Candidate Davis was  
fired for cause and three Commissioners felt she had not moved things forward for two  
years. Candidate Suggs worked with and for Mr. Chisholm and she felt that would be an  
issue for the community.  
Member Nabicht stated he does not know any of his top picks personally or  
professionally and he suggested everyone disclose this same information. There are  
two candidates that are exceptional which are his top two picks and the other three  
picks are okay. He did struggle with candidate Glenn and he was very vocal about a  
candidate having City Manager, County Manager or Assistant City/County Manager  
experience but, he should have included the words "or equivalent" because there are  
comparable real life experiences. Candidate Glenn has a strong military background, he  
is associated locally with Embry-Riddle, he could potentially bring a new perspective to  
the same old way of doing business and he is his number three pick. The Commission  
needs the opportunity to vet him more thoroughly even though he does not fit into that  
"box" so he is willing to let the Commission vet him. Candidate Andrews and Dougherty  
are ICMA (International City Manager Association) City Managers and there are only  
1,300 in the country which speaks volumes to their credentials. City Managers typical  
last an election cycle and some candidates run because they do not like the City  
Manager. They all probably have something in their background where someone  
disagreed with them or there was a political issue with them and he would question them  
if they didn't have that. Credentials, the way they organize things, and the way they look  
at things is how he looked at them. He is okay ranking five or all eight because his top  
two picks are his top two picks and the top two are the absolute most qualified in his  
eyes. He hopes all of the candidates do well in the interviews with the Commission and  
he hopes the Committee made that a little easier.  
Member Santiago stated she does not know any of her top five or eight personally.  
There is one that stands out to her which is Candidate Andrews. The City does not have  
the time to teach somebody how to be a City Manager and we cannot afford to train  
someone. Candidate Andrews is not only ICMA accredited but he has transformed a  
small community into an epicenter where he brought in activities, dinning, shopping,  
events, and concerts. This is what we need, this is what she hears the City of Deltona  
needs. To her, Candidate Andrews has all the credentials. Candidate Dougherty is  
another ICMA accredited manager and his information is amazing. These are two  
qualified City Managers who will work well for the City.  
Member DeLisa stated he read the resumes, then he read the additional information, for  
each candidate, then he ranked the candidates and set them aside. He then went back  
and reviewed the information again to see if he came up with the same conclusion and  
he did. He based his decision on the resumes and their qualifications. Some were more  
qualified than others but, they are all good candidates. He picked Candidate Andrews as  
number one. He thinks we need someone who can come in, identify the problems with  
the City and correct those problems so the City can move forward. Based on the  
information, Candidate Andrews is the top candidate.  
Member LaSanta stated he 100% agrees, Candidate Andrews had him at hello. In his  
introduction letter he is from Central Florida. He lost a child and recovered from that. He  
is educated, he is a Magic fan and he seems to be the best qualified for the City.  
Candidate Davis was able to get grants over a million dollars and Candidate Dougherty  
would be a good selection. Both Candidate Hayes and Suggs also have ICMA  
credentials but nobody else and he thinks that is a prerequisite to run the City.  
Member Amoroso stated she wrote out the population and how many years the  
candidates were there so that is how she compared everything. Their experience  
compared to their longevity at a city of a certain size. She has a major issue with an  
email that went out by Colin Baenziger & Associates that stated Candidate Sara  
Pascale was not eligible because of her lack of experience and she listed the lack of  
experience. Candidate Glenn also has none of the same experience but, he is on the  
list. There is other life experiences but, the major thing the Commission wanted was City  
Manager experience. Her top three are Candidates Dougherty because it was a city of  
27,000 for three years and six years somewhere else and he also was head of Parks &  
Recreation for a city of 1.5 million. She read the article about Candidate Davis saying  
she did not do anything but, the two other people's complements they had on her was a  
nice fit for Deltona. They stated she was calm, she handles people well and that she  
deals well under stress which stood out to her. That is how she made her picks and her  
decision.  
Member Bryan stated she does not know any of the candidates. She thought the  
committee was going to be able to interview the candidates in person. She had asked if  
the committee could contact the candidates and was told they could but they should not.  
She questioned if any of the Committee or Commission had contact with any of the  
candidates? The reason she asked is because she is the one that asked about  
Candidate Sara Pascale. She also mentioned Candidate Tandra Davis but also knew  
that she came from a very small community and that probably was not going to work  
even though she was curious to get more information on her. She was having difficulty  
finding a lot on Candidate Pascale who she thought would have been a very viable  
candidate and she would have liked to have reached out to her but did not. Candidate  
Andrews looks good on paper. The issues she has with him is that in his very first  
statement it says he spoke with colleagues and area leaders in Deltona and she  
questioned who he spoke with. She knows he brought all this stuff into the cities but,  
can we really bring all that stuff to Deltona. Where are we going to put it? As he was  
working through some of these cities he was getting educated and moving up the ranks.  
Is he looking at Deltona as "look at this place its a mess, I'm gonna come in there and  
put my skills to the test" and then he is going to move on. She picked Candidate Suggs  
and Candidate Davis. She read that some of Candidate Davis' issues with some of the  
Commission was because they wanted her to do things she was uncomfortable doing  
and those were things she should not have been doing. She does not think we need a  
manager who is going to make knee jerk reactions. Candidates Hayes and Glenn she  
was not interested in. Candidates Dougherty and Miller were okay. Candidate Miller left  
his position because of similar issues that we have, in fact most of their staff walked out.  
Candidate Silverman was okay but, Candidates Suggs and Davis were her top two.  
Member Fickes stated he liked what Candidate Andrews had to say and his introduction.  
He does not know the candidates and he would leave the interview process up to the  
professionals but, common sense is his game. He had Candidate Dougherty and  
Candidate Glenn because he is a military guy and when you are a full blown Major you  
run things and you manage things. As far as learning, every candidate that comes in  
here is going to learn as they go because they do not know the City, it's different. Calling  
colleagues to find out information, if you are applying for a job you better call someone  
who knows a little bit about the City because if you are not doing your homework you  
are probably not on this list. So those are the three and the rest just fall in sequence.  
Member French stated the cover letters were interesting and are written to match a job  
description and although interesting he wanted to look more at their experience and  
their background beyond their experience. He is only going to recommend four from the  
list. Candidate Miller jumps around jobs too often. We need someone that is going to  
stay and tackle the challenges we have here. Candidate Glenn he has reservations  
about business and he wants someone that is going to give their full attention to the City  
and not divided on other personal interests. Candidate Hayes, he did a dive on because  
he knows someone on the City of Mt.Dora and he was told she was very good at  
finances but, she is a control freak and tends to micromanage. That made him think of  
Jane Shang so she is not on his list. Candidate Silverman, he does not think he has a  
wide enough range of experience. So based on all of the material he is only going to be  
able to recommend four candidates.  
Member Haines stated Candidate Andrews is his top pick, he has great experience and  
has worked with cities with higher population. All of these candidates have really good  
experience and backgrounds but, his concern is a city of 27,000 vs. a city of 100,000, it  
is a much larger responsibility. He has chosen Candidate Andrews for sure and he is still  
on the fence with the other two but, he only has three that are qualify candidates.  
The Committee and the City Clerk discussed the ranking process.  
Chair D'Errico stated she feels similarly about Candidate Andrews and does not need to  
restate everything but, she thinks he is someone who can come in and start managing  
things on day one. He might have a slight learning curve like everyone else but, at the  
end of the day processes are the processes and the departments are the departments.  
She feels he could come in and really make a difference right away. She is solid on her  
three candidates but, her third candidate, Candidate Silverman, she discounted at first  
because he comes from a small city and did not have the experience everyone else  
had. When she looked into him there was some parallels to Deltona. At his current city  
when he came in they were running at a $14 million deficit, they had the highest  
leadership turnover in the last 18 months, and there was a fractured City Council. During  
his tenure he eliminated the deficit, he has the council working as a team, and got  
investors to invest $54 million in the City towards infrastructure.  
Chair D'Errico asked all the members to rank their score sheets and the City Clerk will  
come by to collect them so she can enter them into a spreadsheet to be tallied.  
Chair D'Errico called a recess at 6:42 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 6:49 p.m.  
The City Clerk read the totals for all eight candidates as follows: Candidate Andrews -  
19, Candidate Davis - 54, Candidate Dougherty - 29, Candidate Glenn - 71, Candidate  
Hayes - 62, Candidate Miller - 60, Candidate Silverman - 50, and Candidate Suggs - 51.  
The Committee and City Clerk discussed the candidate Meet & Greet and the interview  
process.  
Motion by Member Nabicht, seconded by Member French, to suggest the  
top three ranked candidates with the fourth and fifth ranked candidates  
being alternates.  
The Committee discussed the to three candidates, how many finalists to move forward,  
whether or not to have alternates, and face-to-face being better than paper.  
Motion by Member Nabicht, seconded by Member DeLisa, to submit the  
top five candidates to the City Commission for their final interview  
process. The amended motion carried by the following vote:  
For:11 - Chair Derrico, Member Amoroso, Member Bryan, Member  
DeLisa, Member Fickes, Member French, Member Haines,  
Member Hickerson, Member Lasanta, Member Nabicht and  
Member Sanitago  
5. ADJOURNMENT:  
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m.  
______________________________  
Joyce Raftery, CMC, MMC, CITY CLERK