Correction appended: A previous version of this story had the wrong first name of Newberry City Commissioner Rick Coleman.
It only took two weeks for Newberry commissioners to decide who should fill the outgoing city manager’s seat, and they didn’t have to look far.
At the tail end of Monday’s meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to take the first steps in hiring Mayor Jordan Marlowe as the next city manager. The motion allows commissioner and mayor pro tempore Mark Clark to begin contract negotiations with Marlowe for the position, which he would not fill until the end of the school year.
The decision to hire in-house was made after Travis Parker, the city’s former director of parks and facilities, turned down the offer to return to Newberry as city manager. Commissioners made the decision to ask Parker to return and the decision to choose Marlowe in the last two weeks, between commission meetings.
“I don’t have a problem with Jordan. I just… I don’t know, this doesn’t feel right. It feels like, like I said before, like this is being done behind closed doors,” said former city commissioner Jason McGehee, 48. “I know you don’t want to spend money, putting out, doing a national search.”
McGehee came to the meeting to praise outgoing city manager Mike New, who he helped hire, and who announced his resignation at a meeting on Jan. 27. McGehee ended the meeting as one of several public commenters unhappy with the commission’s process of hiring the next city manager.
“It just goes back to the whole process,” McGehee told commissioners. “I just don’t feel comfortable with it. I know you guys have pretty much made up your mind on what you want to do.”
“I’ve heard everybody, and I understand the emotions,” Mayor Marlowe responded to the public commenters, “but I would say that the difference here is you’re following the same process that you asked me to go after Travis Parker.”
Marlowe referenced the commission meeting on Jan. 27, where Parker was briefly mentioned as a potential candidate for city manager. No formal motions were made during that meeting to pursue negotiations with Parker. On Monday, commissioners revealed that in the two weeks between meetings, Parker turned down an offer to return as city manager, and Marlowe gathered support among commissioners to fill the role.
Commissioner Rick Coleman made the motion on Monday to start negotiating Marlowe’s city manager contract. He also motioned to hire Dallas Lee, Newberry’s assistant city manager, as an interim until Marlowe can fill the role permanently.
Commissioner Clark will discuss the contract with the mayor and present it to the commission for a vote. Marlowe said he won’t be running for mayor in this year’s election in April if the contract discussions go well. Marlowe also added that he won’t be stepping into any new roles until the school year is over. He teaches at Newberry High School in addition to being the city’s mayor.
Newberry business owner Joy Glanzer, 69, was the only public commenter at Monday’s meeting who spoke in favor of the commission’s search process. She said that in her 50 years of going to commission meetings, the city manager was often chosen by commissioners without much public involvement.
“There’s only been two that we’ve had public discussion about,” Glanzer recalled. “You put in the applications… the citizens have nothing to say about who you hire.”
Travis Adair, 35, a Newberry resident and outspoken critic of last year’s charter school conversion plan, also made public comment at Monday’s meeting. He called the expedited city manager selection process “repugnant” and “disgusting”.
“It’s really sad to me, but I am in no way surprised. This is exactly the kind of thing I would expect these people to do,” Adair said. “For many, many years, they have preyed upon the lack of attention that most people paid towards local government.”
Naim Erched, 41, a member of the Newberry’s planning and zoning board, also shared his concerns with commissioners’ search process.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that we approach this process with fairness and transparency, even though it is your legal right to… not,” Erched told commissioners. “I recognize that speaking up in this way may very well cost me my appointment to the Planning and Zoning Board, however, I firmly believe that we must uphold the integrity of the process.”
Commissioner Coleman responded to the next public commenter, who compared the city’s search process to that of the Alachua County School Board’s search for a new superintendent.
“We need somebody that isn’t going to come into this via a backroom negotiation,” said Rob Baker, a Newberry resident, before being cut off by Coleman.
“There wasn’t a ‘back-room negotiation,’” said Coleman, repeating the way Baker spoke.
“I believe there ought to be an application process,” Baker continued. “It may be that Mayor Marlowe is the best person for the job,” he said, adding that he believes Newberry residents would like to see the search process happen rather than jumping straight to “anointing” Marlowe.
Newberry commissioner Tim Marden said he doesn’t believe that the commission was being secretive with the process of choosing Marlowe.
“The comments about it being un-transparent, is not factually accurate,” Marden said about the accusation. “They had public comment tonight on it. They’ll have more public comment opportunity when the motion comes back before the commission.”
Mayor Marlowe said he believes the backlash at Monday’s meeting came partially because it was him being chosen. He said that nobody raised concerns when the plan was to make Parker city manager.
“This is the process. We’re not skipping the process,” Marlowe said. “There was no objection any of the other times when we used this process, which has been the process since the 1970s.”
“The only thing that changed is the person, which makes me feel like there was a political connection. Not really a sincere concern. It was just a chance to attack me,” Marlowe said.
Mayor Marlowe said he believes that the public commenters at Monday’s meeting represent a vocal minority of outspoken critics in Newberry.
“The vast majority of Newberry loves the path we’re on,” Marlowe said, “which is why I think the commission ultimately made the decision to ask me because I don’t want to see the city change. They want to see the path that we’re on extended.”
Commissioner Clark directly addressed the public commenters by saying the commission did their due diligence in picking the next city manager.
“We went after someone, they did not accept it after weeks of negotiation,” Clark told the audience, “we came back and asked [Marlowe] to do it, and now we’re here in the public, to discuss that in front of everyone.”
Clark defended the speedy process by highlighting the alternative, a nation-wide search that would have cost the city money.
“To say we’ve done something wrong in our process, because we’re saving $150,000 by not reaching out to the nation, and bringing people in,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of money spent when we do this.”
Commissioner Coleman defended the commission’s speedy search as well, stating that the commission has the right to hire whoever they want as city manager.
“Who hires the city manager? It’s this dais, right here,” Coleman said. “He works directly for us. From there, it goes, it all flows downhill.” He said he didn’t see any point in spending money on a search when Marlowe is willing to do the job.
Marden said he believes Marlowe is the best pick for the job, citing his relationship with city leaders and experience with Newberry’s projects.
“The people of Newberry have hired Marlowe in the form of an election multiple times,” Marden said.
Marlowe also expressed his excitement for the role of city manager. He said he plans to follow the energetic style of the outgoing city manager New.
“Mike [New] and I have certainly been incredibly close over the last year,” Marlowe explained. “It’s through that partnership that I feel qualified to be able to do this, because I’ve sat in on all the negotiations. I’ve watched.”
If Marlowe decides not to seek reelection, it would be the first time since 2011 that his name didn’t appear on a ballot in Newberry. The mayor’s position, as well as Marden and Commissioner Tony Mazon’s seats, are up for election on April 8. The qualifying period begins on Feb. 27.
