4970 CITY HALL BLVD

NORTH PORT, FL 34286

City of North Port

Meeting Minutes

City Commission Special Meeting

CITY COMMISSIONERS

Phil Stokes, Mayor

Pete Emrich, Vice Mayor

Barbara Langdon, Commissioner

David Duval, Commissioner

Demetrius Petrow, Commissioner

APPOINTED OFFICIALS

Jerome Fletcher, City Manager

Michael Golen, Interim City Attorney

Heather Faust, City Clerk

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

9:00 AM

City Commission Chambers

CALL TO ORDER

Vice Mayor Emrich called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.

ROLL CALL

4 -

Present:

Vice Mayor Pete Emrich, Commissioner David Duval, Commissioner Demetrius

Petrow and Commissioner Barbara Langdon

1 - Mayor Philip Stokes

Absent:

ALSO PRESENT

City Manager Fletcher, Interim City Attorney Golen, City Clerk Faust, Administrative

Service Specialist Lane, Police Chief Garrison, and Fire Chief Titus.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Interim City Attorney Michael Golen.

1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Vice Mayor Emrich requested a motion.

A motion was made Commissioner Langdon, seconded by Commissioner Duval, to

approve the agenda as presented. The motion carried on the following vote:

4 -

Yes:

Vice Mayor Emrich, Commissioner Duval, Commissioner Petrow and Commissioner

Langdon

1 - Mayor Stokes

Absent:

2. PUBLIC COMMENT:

Ms. Faust read the following eComment into record:

Sheila Denton: Expressed concern regarding the George Mullen Activity Center.

In person:

Valdy Olender: Spoke to police and criminal record.

3. GENERAL BUSINESS:

25-2548

Discussion and Possible Action to Review Semifinalists and Select

Finalists for a New City Attorney with Senior Vice President Doug Thomas

of Strategic Government Resources (SGR).

Vice Mayor Emrich announced the item.

Mr. Fletcher introduced the item and Senior Vice President Doug Thomas of Strategic

Government Resources, who joined the meeting remotely.

Mr. Thomas provided a presentation to include meeting objectives, triage process, SGR

candidate outreach, applicant pool profile, demographics, City Attorney experience and

qualifications.

Commission questions and discussion took place regarding candidates law firms, the

roles of Michael Funio, and the potential for candidates to transition into larger positions.

Commissioners ranked the candidates on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 indicating strong

interest, 2 showing openness to learning more, and 3 representing no interest.

Mr. Thomas presented the results of the rankings : Keith Merritt receiving a 5, David

(Matt) Raulerson receiving a 6, John Anastasio receiving a 6, Michael Funio receiving a 6,

Regina Kardash receiving

a 10, Jennifer Mantoni receiving a 12, Adriene Treasure

receiving a 13, and Cynthia (Cindy) Orndoff receiving a 13.

Commission questions and discussion continued regarding review of each candidate ’s

qualifications and professional experience.

Mr. Thomas continued the presentation including the next steps and interview dates.

Commission questions and discussion continued regarding the interview dates and

concerns related to commitment.

Mr. Thomas spoke to background checks, first-year game plan, Input/Output Personality

Test (IOPT) assessment, and PowerPoint presentations.

There was consensus for candidates to participate in the Input/Output Personality

Test (IOPT) assessment.

Commission

questions

and

discussion

continued

regarding

the

PowerPoint

presentations, first-year game plan, and the candidate ranking documents.

There was consensus for candidates to present a PowerPoint presentation of their

first-year game plan.

Mr. Thomas spoke to the details of Day 1 with the candidates.

Commission questions and discussion continued regarding the results of Day 1 and

possible locations for the meet and greet.

4. PUBLIC COMMENT:

There was no public comment.

5. ADJOURNMENT: