City attorney replacement remains in limbo

If four of the five Sarasota city commissioners had their way, they would have named the next city attorney during their Sept. 16 meeting.

The required supermajority of commissioners appeared ready to name Joseph Polzak to replace City Attorney Robert Fournier when he retires next spring, and John Shamsey and Joseph Mladinich as the chief deputies to replace the also-retiring Michael Connolly.

Commissioner Debbie Trice, though, was not ready to commit.

All five lawyers comprise the same firm — Fournier, Connolly, Shamsey, Mladinich & Polzak — with the remaining attorneys standing ready to step into the roles providing City Commission approval. As a constitutional officer, the city attorney is one of three positions directly hired by the commission in addition to the city auditor and clerk and city manager, the latter also being vacated when Marlon Brown retires on Oct. 15.

As the discussion began, commissioners heard from two local attorneys — Daniel Deleo and Andrew Oppenheim, both of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick — who pitched their firm for contract legal services as outside counsel to the city. The commission, though, seemed well on its way to hiring Polzak, Shamsey and Mladinich, citing their deep institutional knowledge of city affairs and a desire for a smooth transition. 

Commissioner Erik Arroyo placed the item on the agenda in an effort to handle the matter expeditiously to provide a measure of job security for the would-be successors rather than extending the process as they may be fielding other officers.

“You’re at this point where you feel like a lame duck president, if you will. You don't know what the future holds,” Arroyo said. “You think that you may have years on this job, or you may have a couple months, and I think we owe them at least the courtesy of giving them some sort of direction as to what the commission is thinking instead of waiting. We started the process with Mr. Brown leaving in a month and then we have another situation with the city attorney leaving immediately after, so I figured this one was easier to tackle them than Mr. Brown."

Ideally, but not a requirement, the naming of a charter official would carry a unanimous vote. Trice, however, argued that while her colleagues have several years of working with the three, she doesn’t have that advantage, and she has yet to have meetings with them individually to discuss the job. For that reason, she said she is not ready to vote, and wanted the matter to be pushed to the second meeting in October.

That initially struck an accord with the commissioners, who voted unanimously to table the matter in deference to Trice. That lasted until the commissioners’ comments at the conclusion of the meeting, after Arroyo realized that meeting is five weeks away other than four, and that was far too long to leave the three potentially job-hunting attorneys in limbo. 

During his comment, Arroyo wanted to bring the matter back to a vote on the commission’s Oct. 7 agenda, an idea that was rebuffed by Mayor Liz Alpert and recommended against by Brown, as it ran contrary to a unanimous vote held only moments earlier.

“I think three weeks is more than enough time,” Arroyo said. “I was just looking at the calendar, seeing how long it's going to be, and it's five weeks. So much can happen in five weeks, and I really am concerned that these individuals are being approached by other firms. I don't think they received much of a guarantee of anything. They received some support from four out of the five commissioners, but it's a legitimate concern that I have that we're going to not have a decision made on the 21st of next month.”

Vice Mayor Jen Ahearn-Koch joined Arroyo in his concerns, adding she found herself torn between the two positions. If Trice cannot complete her vetting in three weeks — she said she has travel plans — then the commission will just have to wait.

“I would have made it this afternoon,” Ahearn-Koch said to Trice. “I would have already done it, but I very much value that 5-0 commitment, which you don't feel comfortable doing in the position you're in.”

She asked Trice directly if she can attempt to meet with the attorneys and conduct any other research prior to the Oct. 7 meeting. Trice responded that she can try but was noncommittal. If successful, she can add the item to the order of the day in advance of the meeting.

“I will make an effort, but still going to stick to the 21st,” Trice said.

“I have every confidence in Commissioner Trice,” added Kyle Battie.

Arroyo took the opportunity to address to what he described as the commission’s ongoing inability to efficiently arrive at decisions.

“We can wait until 21st, but I'm just telling you it's a legitimate concern of mine, like the indecision that this commission makes on a daily basis,” Arroyo said. “I think it's problematic, and I think we need to be a little bit more decisive in what we're doing.”

Added Battie, “I echo that.”