4970 CITY HALL BLVD  
NORTH PORT, FL 34286  
City of North Port  
Meeting Minutes  
City Commission Special Meeting  
CITY COMMISSIONERS  
Barbara Langdon, Mayor  
Alice White, Vice Mayor  
Pete Emrich, Commissioner  
Debbie McDowell, Commissioner  
Phil Stokes, Commissioner  
APPOINTED OFFICIALS  
Jerome Fletcher, City Manager  
Amber L. Slayton, City Attorney  
Heather Faust, City Clerk  
Tuesday, June 6, 2023  
9:00 AM  
CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS  
Conflict Resolution  
CALL TO ORDER  
ROLL CALL  
Mayor Langdon called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.  
5 -  
Present:  
Mayor Barbara Langdon, Vice Mayor Alice White, Commissioner Pete Emrich,  
Commissioner Debbie McDowell and Commissioner Philip Stokes  
ALSO PRESENT:  
City Manager Jerome Fletcher, City Attorney Amber Slayton, City Clerk Heather Faust,  
Assistant City Clerk Adrian Jimenez, Recording Secretary Matthew Powell, Police Chief  
Todd Garrison, and Acting Fire Chief Nick Herlihy  
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE  
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mark Frandsen.  
1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA  
Mayor Langdon requested a motion.  
A motion was made by Commissioner Stokes, seconded by Commissioner Emrich,  
to approve the Agenda as presented. The motion carried on the following vote:  
5 -  
Yes:  
Mayor Langdon, Vice Mayor White, Commissioner Emrich, Commissioner  
McDowell and Commissioner Stokes  
2. PUBLIC COMMENT:  
Ms. Faust read the following public eComments into the record:  
David Iannotti: expressed clarity regarding City Manager actions and powers.  
Robin San Vicente: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
In person public comment:  
Mark Frandsen: expressed support for appropriate decorum and expressed concern  
regarding work environment.  
Juno Enoch: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
Michelle Pozzie: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
John Favere: expressed concern regarding police actions.  
James Strawser: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
Karen Dill: expressed concern regarding public comment decorum.  
3. GENERAL BUSINESS:  
23-0929  
A.  
Dr. Meagan Baskin: Constructive Conflict Training. Anticipated Topics  
Include by may not be Limited to:  
- Introductions and Setting Session Boundaries  
- Why Teams have Conflict?  
- Overcoming Conflict  
- How to Communicate during Conflict – Styles and Techniques  
Activity – video and Box breathing technique  
- Radical Candor  
- Crucial Conversations  
- Activity – Communicating and Clarifying Roles  
- Complaint and Active Coaching  
Mayor Langdon announced the item.  
Ms. Faust introduced the item.  
Dr. Meagan Baskin and Stephanie Torrico, Southwest Florida Leadership Institute,  
provided training including introductions, training overview, ground rules, anonymous poll,  
understanding teams, teams, and stages of team development.  
Commission questions and discussion took place regarding teamwork integration and  
group versus team.  
Training continued including five dysfunctions of a team.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding differing opinions, building  
relationships, verbiage relating to teamwork, personal versus professional conflicts,  
understanding behavior, and effected parties.  
Training continued including defining conflict.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding clarifying roles, moving  
forward, breaching and rebuilding trust, expectations, public input, and emotions.  
Training continued including types and signs of conflicts in teams, and covert conflict.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding Florida Sunshine Law  
limitations.  
Training continued including conflict escalation.  
Recess was taken from 10:40 a.m. to 10:51 a.m.  
Training continued including anonymous poll results, team conflict outcomes, conflict and  
performance, causes, individual differences, ladder of inference, cognitive bias and  
examples, difference of values, defining obligation, personality, decision making,  
developing self-awareness, practice, self-regulation, communicating, and conflict styles.  
Recess was taken from 12:03 p.m. to 12:15 p.m.  
Training continued including conflict styles assessment, conflict styles matrix, when to  
use  
the  
styles  
to  
include  
collaboration,  
compromising,  
forcing/competing,  
accommodating, and avoiding, rewards of each style, attributes and risks of each style,  
acute stress response, fight, flight, freeze and fawn, style under stress assessment to  
include breathing for clarity, box breathing technique video, and physiological sign and  
technique video.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding conflict styles assessment.  
Recess was taken from 12:51 p.m. to 1:51 p.m.  
Training continued including styles under stress assessment, radical candor to include  
care personally, challenge directly, radical candor in practice to include ask, be specific,  
demonstrate, coach, in person, praise, and remind, crucial conversations, common  
crucial conversations, benefits of improving crucial conversations, walking the crucial  
conversations path, mastering crucial conversation to include the power of dialogue, start  
with heart, learn to look, make it safe, master my stories, state my path and explore  
other's paths, move to action, clarifying roles, and obligations and responsibilities for  
Commission.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding the roles and responsibilities  
of the Commission.  
Recess was taken from 3:54 p.m. to 4:05 p.m.  
Training continued including roles, obligations and responsibilities for City Manager,  
exerts from North Port City Charter and other cities for limitations of City Commission  
powers, and powers and duties.  
Commission questions and discussion continued regarding the roles and responsibilities  
of the City Manager.  
Public comment:  
Conni Brunni: expressed concern regarding issues stated by consultant presentation,  
respect, and criticism.  
23-0772  
B.  
Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Potential Violations of the City  
Charter and Employment Contract as Outlined by the Complaint Filed by  
Commissioner McDowell Against City Manager Jerome Fletcher.  
Mayor Langdon announced the item.  
Ms. Faust introduced the item.  
Mayor Langdon noted Commission received all backup material submitted to Human  
Resources and provided process for item discussion.  
Mr. Fletcher provided an explanation to the complaint and his intent of scope of work.  
Commission questions and discussion took place regarding complaints with projects and  
updates, City events, Warm Mineral Springs (WMS) designation, sound judgments and  
decisions of the City Manager, roles and responsibilities, effective communication, and  
identifying matters.  
Commissioner McDowell spoke to the submitted complaints, City Charter, WMS  
designation, communication with City Manager, serving the citizens, follow-ups with City  
Manager, and citizen input.  
Commission  
questions  
and  
discussion  
continued  
regarding  
interaction  
with  
Commissioners, perceptions and opinions, respect and trust, working together, past  
interference, voice of the citizens, and one on one meetings.  
Public comment:  
Susan Gastony: spoke to importance of working together, different opinions and moving  
forward.  
James Strawser: spoke to importance of impression on future Commissioners and  
building positive relationships.  
Jeffrey Scott: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
Mayor Langdon requested a motion.  
Commissioner McDowell spoke to the necessity for an independent investigation to  
remove any subjective opinions.  
A
motion was made by Commissioner McDowell, to have an independent  
third-party investigation on the City Manager working in tandem with the City  
Attorney, to determine if there was a violation of the Charter or his employment  
contract. The motion failed due to lack of a second.  
4. PUBLIC COMMENT:  
Ms. Faust read the following public eComment into the record:  
Urszula Kubrak: expressed support for Item No. 23-0772.  
In person public comment:  
Conni Brunni: spoke to concern with Commission action on Item No. 23-0772.  
Jasmine Bowman: spoke to concern with Commission action on Item No. 23-0772.  
Jeffrey Scott: spoke to concern with Commission action on Item No. 23-0772.  
James Strawser: spoke to concern with Commission action on Item No. 23-0772.  
5. ADJOURNMENT:  
Mayor Langdon adjourned the meeting at 5:53 p.m.  
City of North Port, Florida  
By:  
_________________________________________  
Barbara Langdon, Mayor  
Attest: _________________________________________  
Heather Faust, City Clerk