By MICHAEL FEELY

Staff Writer

City Council this past Wednesday evening met with Jersey Professional Management (JPM) to review résumés submitted by individuals interested in the vacant Brigantine city manager position. Dan Mason of JPM told council that 25 résumés had been received and there were indications that the city would receive two to three more.

Four or five of the individuals were from out of state including Pennsylvania, California, Georgia and Florida.

Mason recommended that council “not set a deadline,” but rather, adopt a working schedule so as to not disqualify a valid candidate for not meeting an arbitrary deadline. As part of that schedule, he suggested that council review the résumés submitted and evaluate them based on a rating system—“knowledge, skills and ability”—that he presented as a guideline. He also suggested to council that they refine the rating system and its parameters by identifying those attributes deemed important by each council member.

The deadline suggested that council meet again in two or three weeks in order to

further delineate the candidate pool. Confidentiality was crucial at this point as many of the candidates would not have informed their present employers of their interest in the Brigantine position. In response to a question by Councilman at Large Tony Pullella, Mason strongly suggested that councilman not involve themselves in the background check, but wait until his company had vetted the individuals.  

Mayor Phil Guenther opened up the meeting to public comment before council adjourned to executive session to review the candidate’s résumés. Anne Phillips of the Brigantine Taxpayers Association appeared to request that the final candidates be available for a public interview before hiring. Mason said that this had never been done in his experience. Guenther said that “the public elected us to make these kinds of decisions,” a position Councilman at Large Frank Kern concurred with.

Rick DeLucry, the Democratic candidate for the 4th Ward council seat that is being vacated by Councilman Ken Schaffer, took the opportunity to state characteristics that council should consider before hiring a city manager. This list of attributes included knowledge of the law, budgeting experience, past experience in running a diverse operation, experience with human relations, negotiating skills, and “shore” experience.

He suggested that island residency not be a “make-or-break” factor and strongly suggested that council not offer the new city manager a long-term contract that would possibly obligate the city to a financial liability if problems arose. He stated the city manager could be hired on the basis of a “required 30-day notice” for termination of employment.  

Tom Milhous, the New Republican candidate for the 4th Ward, stressed that the most important priorities were prior experience and education.

Barbara Dragon asked council to consider values, non-partisanship and to avoid the appearance of any conflict of interests with the new city manager.

Council retired to executive session and reviewed the résumés before returning at about 8 p.m.

“We have an exceptional group of candidates and more résumés to come,” said Guenther after council came out of executive session. He and Councilman Bob Solari were happy with the initial response for the position.

“Dan Mason has led us in a very professional and adept manner thus far,” said Kern. “His experience and insights have been very helpful in the résumé review process. I am very hopeful that the process will produce beneficial results for Brigantine.”

Council will continue to review potential candidates and will next meet with JPM during the executive session at the next scheduled Council meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 7 in council chambers at City Hall.

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