SWFLATODAY
Naples Daily News - 06/04/2021
Interim city manager may get $42K pay raise
Increase requested in
employment agreement
Omar Rodríguez Ortiz
Naples Daily News
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
Naples City Council did not immedi-
ately approve on Wednesday a 26% pay
raise requested by interim City Manager
Dana Souza as part of a new employ-
ment agreement.
City Council instead voted unani-
mously to direct City Attorney Nancy
Stuparich and Souza to make changes to
the proposed agreement and to present
the new version in a future council
meeting.
Naples Pride president Cori Craciun hangs a rainbow pride flag outside the new Naples Pride center in East Naples on
Sept. 3. PHOTOS BY JON AUSTRIA/ NAPLES DAILY NEWS
Change of plans
Naples Pride
postpones annual
event to November
Andrew Atkins Naples Daily News
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
Naples Pride won’t hold its festival
during Pride Month this year.
Instead, the organization will move
its celebration of the LGBTQ communi-
ty to Nov. 202021
June 4, at Cambier
9:16 am Park
(GMT in Naples.
-4:00)
“We’re comfortable having it in No-
vember,” said Callhan Soldavini, a board
The pay raise would
have temporarily in-
creased Souza’s annual
salary to $206,000 effec-
tive retroactively on May
13. Souza’s annual salary
Souza as deputy city manager is
$163,762.
Souza also requested changes to his
benefits that mirror those enjoyed until
recently by former City Manager
Charles Chapman, according to a city
memorandum. Chapman’s annual sala-
ry was $210,120.
These benefits would have included
raising the city’s contribution to his re-
tirement plan from 7% of his base salary
to 17%. With some exceptions, Souza
would would have also be entitled to 20
weeks severance pay, instead of his cur-
rent 16, if his employment is terminated
by City Council.
The proposed agreement also stated
that Souza would not be required to live
within city limits and that he would be
reinstated as deputy city manager when
his service as interim city manager
ends.
All councilors said at the meeting
that Souza deserved a salary increase
because of the new responsibilities he
recently acquired as interim city man-
ager, but not all agreed that a new em-
ployment agreement is the way to go.
Councilman Mike McCabe said Sou-
za’s current deputy city manager em-
ployment agreement could be amend-
ed, reflecting the temporary pay raise.
Page : A03
“I think this is all covered in his cur-
rent job description,” McCabe said.
Vice Mayor Terry Hutchison said he
would support a pay raise for Souza.
“He is doing a city manger’s job,”
Hutchison said.
Former City Manager Charles Chap-
man resigned on May 13.
As part of a separate agenda item,
City Council approved unanimously a
17% pay increase for City Clerk Patricia
Rambosk for an annual salary of
$132,400. The salary increase is effec-
tive retroactively to October 1 of last
year.
Rambosk’s annual base salary was
$112,873, according to a city
See SOUZA, Page 5A
Wednesday
rains smash
June 2 record in
Fort Myers; zero
rain in Naples
Chad Gillis Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA
The rainy season exploded in Fort
Myers Wednesday with nearly 5 inch-
es of precipitation falling at Page Field
Airport.
That’s a record for any June 2 in Fort
Myers, easily beating out the previous
high of 3.65 inches that fell on the
same day in 1922. But not all areas of
Southwest Florida were wet.
“We had lots of showers develop
yesterday all day,” said Keily Delerme,
a meteorologist for the National
Weather Service in Ruskin, which cov-
ers all of Southwest Florida but Collier
County. “That’s definitely a lot of rain
in one day.”
Most areas south of Lake Okeecho-
bee, including almost all of Collier, are
in a moderate drought, according to
the National Drought Mitigation Cen-
ter at the University of Nebraska-Lin-
coln.
Lee and other coastal counties in
Southwest Florida are considered to be
abnormally dry by the center, which
released its latest drought index report
on Thursday.
Inland areas like Clewiston and Im-
mokalee are dry as well.
“It’s been real spotty,” said Gene
McAvoy, with the University of Flori-
da’s IFAS network. “If you happen to be
under the clouds you might get an inch
or an inch-and-a-half. It looks like the
rainy season is starting but we haven’t
had really good soaking rains.”
The official tally for Fort Myers for
Wednesday was 4.77 inches, Delerme
said.
But there was no rain recorded in
Naples, according to NWS meteorolo-
gist Paxton Fell, who works in the ser-
vice’s Miami Powered
office. by TECNAVIA
“There could have been rain in sur-
rounding areas but at the Naples Air-
ple of days of rain we’ve had
nd areas) has helped but we
Naples Daily News - 06/04/2021
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Just where it rains across the state on
any given day during the rainy season is
Souza
Continued from Page 3A
memorandum.
On May 3, City Council conducted
an annual performance review for
Rambosk, requested a pay analysis
and a follow-up discussion to deter-
mine a salary adjustment, according to
the memorandum.
In 2012, Rambosk was appointed as
city clerk with an annual base salary of
$84,882, according to the memoran-
dum.
City discusses city manager
recruitment options
To recruit a new city manager, City
Council has two options to choose
from: select an in-house recruitment
process led by the city’s human re-
sources staff or hire an outside exec-
utive search firm.
A new city manager could possibly
start in mid-October if City Council
would select the in-house recruitment
process. If council would select to hire
an outside firm, a new manager would
not start until January of next year,
Souza said during a council meeting on
Tuesday..
Councilman Ted Blankenship said
he prefers the in-house hiring method
because it would be quicker than hir-
ing an external recruiting firm. He said
the city could find candidates through
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Page : A05
a city manager’s association.
“Maybe we don’t need their help,”
Blankenship said about hiring an out-
side firm.
Mayor Teresa Heitmann, Vice Mayor
Terry Hutchison and Councilman Mike
McCabe said they prefer the quicker, in-
house hiring process.
“Now would be the time that we
would want to start that process so staff
can work on it during the summer,”
Heitmann said.
“Now is the perfect time to be doing
this,” McCabe said.
Councilman Ray Christman said City
Council should not “rush” the hiring
process without reaching a consensus
on what kind of city manager the city
needs.
“The worst thing we can do is plunge
ahead without having a consensus here
on what kind of (city manager) we are
looking for,” Christman said.
Councilman Gary Price said he favors
a slower hiring process but that he is not
sure that hiring an outside firm is the
best option.
“If it were my company, I would not
be rushing to make this decision,” Price
said.
Councilman Paul Perry said he favors
a more “deliberate” process with public
input.
“Let’s get it right,” Perry said.
Contact Omar at omar.rodriguezor-
tiz@naplesnews.com, and follow him
on Twitter as @Omar_fromPR. Support
his work by subscribing to Naples Daily
News.
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