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Century Extends Town Management Services Contact With South Florida Company; One Council Member Objects
November 20, 2024
The Century Town Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to extend a contract with a South Florida company to manage many of the town’s operations, but one council member objected saying the same invoices have been paid multiple times under his watch. Council member Shelisa McCall also questioned what happened to the money and alluded to a leadership problem.
In December 2023, the town accepted a city management company proposal after newly appointed Century interim Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. told the council that he would need help to properly run the town.
The town signed a contract with Local Government Consulting Group (LGCG) of West Palm Beach for up to six months for $7,500 per month.
Under a contract amendment approve June 18, 2024, the rate for LGCG increased to $8,000 per month for town manager services for six months. The town will pay an additional $3,000 per month for grant writing services and $175 per hour for Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Consulting Services.
LGCG will also serve as “Coordinator of Ongoing Projects Services” for $40 per hour.
The new agreement approved Tuesday night will extend the contract under the same rates and terms until June 12, 2025.
LGCG representatives Howard W. Brown Jr., Erin Connelly, and Cheryl Harrison-Lee will provide the various services.
“Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to work for the Town of Century,” Brown said Tuesday night. “I’ve been very happy to serve you guys in this capacity, and I think the new few months might be critical for us to set up some goals.”
“In the next few months, we’ll start putting together an action plan on specifically the town clerk position and the town manager-administrator position,” he continued. “There are things I think would be critical for you was you move forward. You need to have someone in some sort of management capacity.”
“Mr. Brown had been critical in the operation. We have accomplished a major deal of work, and it shows,” Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. said. “He has done tremendous work in bringing issues to light that was never discovered before he came.”
“I said when I took this seat that I felt that the town always needs some sort of administrative leadership, whether it’s Mr. Brown or anybody else. I think it’s critical that we keep some type of day-to-day operations experience of how to operate a city. Hats off to all the previous mayors before me, but my choice is to have someone here to find stuff that I would never think of looking. And that doesn’t mean that I’m incompetent; it’s just that there are specialists for everything, and Mr. Brown is an operation of a city specialist.”
“I appreciate all the work that you put in,” council president Dynette Lewis told Brown. “Any person in this room that volunteered into the at position (town mayor) would need some help…That position does require a little bit more assistance. No one in this room would be able to roll into a roll like that without some type of assistance.”
Before casting the dissenting vote, Council member Shelisa McCall, who attended the meeting remotely by video (pictured left), said she’s noticed a problem with invoices and perhaps management this year.
“In the past six months, we have voted to pay the same three invoices twice,” she said. “When we voted the second time to the exact same invoice, who was paid or where the money went?”
McCall said she voted against paying the invoice more than once, and she declined to name the vendor or specific invoices when asked by Lewis. She did say the invoices were not from Brown or his company.
McCall also expressed that “after every meeting or so”, someone (an employee) just leaves abruptly without an explanation, and I my experience when that happens, it speaks to leadership.”
Pictured top: Howard Brown (left) whose company Local Government Consulting Group acts as town manager for Century and Mayor Luis Gomez, Jr. following Tuesday night’s meeting. Pictured top inset: Brown watches a monitor asc ouncil member Shelisa McCall (bottom inset) spoke at the meeting by video. Pictured first below: Brown addresses the council. Pictured bottom: Council members (L-R) Sandra McMurray-Jackson, Dynette Lewis, Henry Cunningham and Alicia Johnson. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
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