The public record

NORTH PORT (SARASOTA COUNTY) · LOCALDecisions publishedPartial coverage

City Commission Special Meeting

Wednesday, July 30, 2025 · Government meeting record

The 30-second read

Recorded outcome

The Commission reviewed and ranked eight candidates for the City Attorney position with the help of a recruitment firm, reaching a consensus to require personality testing and first-year plan presentations from finalists.

The North Port City Commission met to review and rank candidates for the position of City Attorney with the help of a recruitment firm. Commissioners evaluated eight semifinalists based on their qualifications and professional experience to determine who will move forward to the interview stage.

Why it matters

The City Attorney provides legal counsel for all city operations, and the selection of this official impacts the city's legal strategy and administrative oversight.

What happens next

No later meeting or follow-up date is stated in the reviewed record.

City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

An official outcome record - an action agenda or minutes - is published for this meeting.

Captured actions

Recorded outcomes

Source artifacts

What changed

Other key decisions

2 captured items have a publicly linked outcome.

Search all 2 meeting actions

Item 3A
The Commission reviewed and ranked eight candidates for the City Attorney position with the help of a recruitment firm, reaching a consensus to require personality testing and first-year plan presentations from finalists.
Review Semifinalists for City Attorney
discussion_only
- City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes
Item 1
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the meeting agenda.
Approval of Agenda
approved - passed 4-0
- City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

Recorded votes

1 recorded vote0 split

Split votes (0)

Every recorded vote passed unanimously.

Unanimous votes (1)

approved

Approval of Agenda — passed 4-0

City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

People and votes

Barbara Langdon

Vice Mayor

Present at this meeting

Open person dossier

The reviewed record lists this person as present but does not attribute a motion, statement, or individual vote to them.

City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

See all 1 roll call with named votes

Record text

Search the record text

No recording or transcript is held for this meeting.

Minutes textCity Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

4970 CITY HALL BLVD NORTH PORT, FL 34286City 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 9:00 AM City Commission ChambersWednesday, July 30, 2025 CALL TO ORDER Vice Mayor Emrich called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. ROLL CALL Vice Mayor Pete Emrich, Commissioner David Duval, Commissioner Demetrius Petrow and Commissioner Barbara Langdon Present: 4 - Mayor Philip StokesAbsent: 1 - 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: Yes: Vice Mayor Emrich, Commissioner Duval, Commissioner Petrow and Commissioner Langdon 4 - Absent: Mayor Stokes1 - 2. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ms. Faust read the following eComment into record: Sheila Denton: Expressed concern regarding the George Mullen Activity Center. Page 1City of North Port Printed on 9/9/2025 July 30, 2025City Commission Special Meeting Meeting Minutes In person: Valdy Olender: Spoke to police and criminal record. 3. GENERAL BUSINESS: A. 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: Page 2City of North Port Printed on 9/9/2025 July 30, 2025City Commission Special Meeting Meeting Minutes There was no public comment. 5. ADJOURNMENT: Vice Mayor Emrich adjourned the meeting at 10:31 a.m. By: ___________________________________________ Philip Stokes, Mayor Attest: _________________________________________ Heather Faust, City Clerk Page 3City of North Port Printed on 9/9/2025

All meeting actions

Source coverage incomplete

2 meeting items captured. The published sources do not prove this is the complete docket.

Showing 2 of 2

Browse by category2 actions

Search this meetingShow

Agenda item 1Other meeting itemsapproved - passed 4-0
The Commission voted unanimously to approve the meeting agenda.
Approval of Agenda
- City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes
Agenda item 3AOther meeting itemsdiscussion_only
The Commission reviewed and ranked eight candidates for the City Attorney position with the help of a recruitment firm, reaching a consensus to require personality testing and first-year plan presentations from finalists.
Review Semifinalists for City Attorney
Strategic Government Resources
- City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

Official record

ArtifactSourceState

AgendaNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

Agenda packetNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

BudgetNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

Action agendaNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

MinutesCity Commission Special Meeting — Minutesread text

Transcript or captionsNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

AttachmentNot published in the sources we holdunavailable

Official pages

View at source

Coverage and corrections

Records considered

City Commission Special Meeting — Minutes

Not claimed by this page

Item-level plain-language summaries are not available; this page does not infer individual agenda items.
Item-linked, attributed deliberation
A source-grounded next meeting date

A transcript is not available.
No audio or video recording is linked.
Speakers have not been reliably matched to public profiles.
Named people and places have not been reliably resolved.
An individual roll-call roster is not available.

No source correction or revision history is recorded for this meeting. A corrected artifact will appear here as a new version rather than replacing what is shown above.

Canonical record: a41ad2164f69b6fdf5747b9d502f39a7. This page changes as stronger artifacts are published; it never overwrites an agenda with minutes.