What Our City Commission Does

Instead of the usual monthly update I thought that I would take you behind the scenes of what our City Commission does and give you some insight into the role of the Mayor.  What most of you are typically aware of is our attendance at City Commission meetings the 1^st and 3^rd Tuesday of every month.  Florida requires that we meet in the “Sunshine,” so that all of our meetings are public.  We each serve on numerous committees in the City and outside of the City.

I recently was appointed as Vice Chair of the National League of Cities’ Leadership Training Council.  We put on educational seminars throughout the country to enhance the leadership skills and provide training for leaders across the country. Vice Mayor Gold serves with me.   At the time of writing this, I have one more meeting as Chairman of the Broward County Planning Council.  We make land use recommendations throughout the County in matters that affect the County and we have provided a menu of options for municipalities to consider regarding the affordable housing crisis.

We have each taken an active lobbying role so to speak on behalf of Coral Springs in matters that affect us county-wide, state-wide and across the nation.  We each have different strengths that we bring to the table.  No one is more detail-oriented than Vice Mayor Gold.  Commissioner Boccard is a General Contractor by trade and has brought a unique perspective about building issues that affect our community.  Commissioner Mena is passionate about service to everyone and Commissioner Bruck brings a great deal of deliberation to each issue before us.  I believe that my greatest strength is community outreach and citizen involvement.

The Commission does a good deal of work and I would venture to say that we put in anywhere from 20 to 40 hours in any given week.  Our strong City Manager manages the daily operations of the City and is the primary common element in the City’s success since 1994.  We have approximately 1,000 employees and provide over 90 goods and services to our citizens and businesses.

Of course, as with any organization, there are opportunities for improvement.  As we move forward in 2007, we will continue to leverage the diversity of our community and embrace newer faces as we seek to involve and engage more citizens.  We have approximately one third of our citizens that speak Spanish at home but we have not had support for any portion of our website to be translated into Spanish.  We have now put into place monthly workshops so that the Commission can more freely develop policy and have time to process some of our ideas instead of merely discussing them for the first time in a Commission meeting.

There is only one staff person that serves the entire Commission despite the size and complexity of our City.  I am hopeful that we will budget for at least one more person in the next fiscal year so that we can do that much more for each of you.  As Mayor, I am sometimes mistaken as the main person that makes policy decisions.  Rather, it is the MAJORITY of the City Commission that does.  I also believe that it is paramount for me to involve my colleagues fully in any policy-making decision as opposed to beginning each discussion myself with my own viewpoint.  While I may do so when it comes to affordable housing or mentoring, you will usually see me involve my team first.

This year we will be faced with some tough budget questions, the challenge of being the first city to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality award and we must provide a clearer, modernized vision for our community for the next 20 years. We will continue to seek your input and volunteer time as we know that you are at the top of every one of our organizational charts.

We accomplished a great deal since March and I am proud of the way our employees have adjusted to their new Board of Directors.  In April we will have a workshop open to the public to address ways to enhance the relationships and effectiveness of communication between the building department, the public, the contractors and your Commission.  While we had a tough 2005, we also made many improvements that are important to the future of our City.  We have some other great things in store for 2007.  For more information, please view our website at www.coralsprings.org.  If you are interested in learning more about local government, receiving personal e-mail from me or if you are interested in mentoring please email me at Sbrook@coralsprings.org.  We anticipate that we will begin our second Government Leadership class in April.

Very Truly Yours,

Scott J. Brook

954-344-5906

Scott J. Brook, Esquire
Scott J. Brook, P.A.

Posted: Tuesday, Jan 9, 2007