Lake City: City Manager Don Rosenthal Goes to $175,000 – a 3% raise. He Thought He Was Worth More & So Did Others
December 21, 2024 9:22 am | 5 min read
Columbia County Observer photo
LAKE CITY, FL –
On Monday evening (Dec. 16), the Lake City City
Council had a six-month evaluation of Lake City
City Manager Don Rosenthal on its docket.
Previously, evaluation forms were circulated to
the City Council members. Only one Council
member, Councilwoman Tammy Harris, returned the
form to the Clerk's Office. Mr. Rosenthal let it
be known that he was looking for a 10% raise.
Background
The departure of City Manager Joe Helfenberger in June 2022 began a period of disruption and confusion in Lake City, which had Lake City reeling and a “laughing stock” from Florida to Alaska. The Paul Dyal Alaska (“This is where I want to live”) – Mayor Steve Witt debacle, followed by another Alaska Dyal debacle, and Mr. Dyal’s ‘I quit’ Mayor Witt sanctioned quarter-million-dollar payout is still playing out.
City
Manager Don Rosenthal’s contract was approved in
May 2024 with a start date of June 1, 2024. He
brought his big government experience with him
to Lake City. Mr. Rosenthal originally wanted
$175k to start, but settled on $165k with a
six-month evaluation and salary reconsideration.
Last Monday evening, the City Council evaluated and reconsidered.
But First: What is a City Manager Worth
In 2023, there were almost 220,000 city managers in America. The national median salary for city managers was reported to be $206,690. In 2023, there were 77,049 job postings related to city manager positions. These manager jobs are spread across seven industries, with 8% coming from local governments, excluding education and hospitals. (Data from Lightcast). The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) recognizes the manager skill set broadly across seven industries.
Zip Recruiter computes the national average for city managers as $115,406, with a range of $26,500 to $223,500, with a warning that ZipRecruiter estimates are not verified by employers and actual compensation can vary considerably.
Looking at Columbia County, the highest-paid appointed manager in the public sector is Florida Gateway College's President, Dr. Larry Barrett. The number one at the college is at $290,000. See: Florida Gateway College President Gets a Perfect Evaluation – Then a New Forever Contract Worth $441,000
The third highest paid is County Manager David Kraus, who is at $140k.
Mayor Noah Walker: has brought civility back to
City Council meetings, but was not at the top of
his game during the salary segment of the
meeting.
This brings us to the man of the hour, City Manager Don Rosenthal. Mr. Rosenthal is responsible for a staff of approximately 250 City workers, which includes a police department, fire department, and utility department with almost eight thousand customers. Lake City has 12k residents, is the business capital of Columbia County, and has its own airport.
Lake City has a budget of $75 million, of which City residents contribute $5.2 million in taxes.
City Council Evaluation: pretty much by the seat of its pants
Stuck way at the end of last Monday's agenda, the last item was number fourteen: Don Rosenthal, City Manager – Six-Month Evaluation
There was no backup information: no contract and no evaluations. The Council members were purported to have received the evaluations. Only Councilwoman Harris turned a completed evaluation into the Clerk’s Office.
Mr. Rosenthal gave his take on his salary issue. “$175k is the figure I wanted to start at. We negotiated back to $162.5k. Since then, I've gotten a 3% increase with the rest of the staff. I’m asking for a 10% increase to that. What is the usual? There is no usual with a city manager. It's what we talk about, where we can negotiate, and how well I perform.”
Councilwoman Chevella Young: She had a ceiling
in mind.
Factoring in Mr. Rosenthal’s 3% raise “with the rest of the staff,” his salary increased to $169,950. Adding 10% to that would have brought his salary to $186,945. Mr. Rosenthal was asking for a bump to $185k.
Councilwoman Chevella Young said Mr. Rosenthal is doing an outstanding job, but there has to be "room for elevation… If I had to throw a number out, it would be one-seventy-one-one-seventy-five.”
Councilwoman Harris agreed with Councilwoman Young. Ms. Harris said, “You done brought awesome things to us, and I love it. But I'm with her on that. If you go jump to 185 in a year's time, we're going to go 191-195. I would think 175 is a good number.”
Councilman Carter opined that when the City looked at Mr. Rosenthal for City Manager, "We were shopping on the top shelf. I think he had a tremendous amount of experience. I do believe he was worth it… The starting pay for Mr. Rosenthal was higher than we ever paid anybody. By a long shot. 185 feels a little high to me, as well. I'm not uncomfortable with the concept of 175.”
Councilwoman Tammy Harris: she thought City
Manager Rosenthal was worth $180,000.
Councilman Jernigan said he agreed with Ms. Young and Ms. Harris and then added, “I was thinking more of 170 because I thought he was at 160 and then giving him room to grow and another six months to get him to that, that pinnacle… I don't know exactly how long Mr. Rosenthal is planning on being here, but I would definitely, while he's here, pay him what he's worth, and 185 is just a tad too high for me.”
Mr. Rosenthal was recognized, “You brought me in. You said, ‘Well, we paid Mr. Rosenthal a lot.’ Well, you look at my resume. I feel I should have been paid a lot. I think I'm at the top of my game as far as managing cities and generating revenue for the City, and I think I should be paid accordingly. Now, 170 would be unreasonable for me. I wouldn't want to stay for 170. I just want to put that out there. I think that would be something I wouldn't be interested in doing.”
Councilman Jernigan had a change of heart. He said, “I’m fine with 175.”
With a super-majority of four Council members "fine with 175," Mayor Walker's inexperience came to the forefront. Rather than asking for a vote, he asked for the authority to negotiate with the City Manager for up to $178.5k.
His friend, Councilman Carter, made the motion. It died for lack of a second.
Mr. Carter then made a motion granting the Mayor permission to negotiate up to $175k. The motion passed.
Councilman James Carter: thought the City was
"shopping on the top shelf" when it hired Mr.
Rosenthal.
With the motion on the floor, it was time for public comment.
There was one public comment. Former City Councilman Glenel Bowden. Mr. Bowden said, “I think that the public deserve to know how what your evaluation look like.”
Councilman Jernigan said, “I just want to make sure I got this right. 175. Then you’re going to negotiate the 175?”
Mayor Walker said, “That’s my ceiling. That’s the ceiling you guys have set for me.”
With four Council members already agreeing to the $175K amount and Mr. Rosenthal being amenable, Mr. Walker seemed not to understand there was nothing for him to negotiate.
Councilman Carter explained to the Mayor, “Being that’s where we are [$175k], it wouldn't be much of a negotiation if we're all saying 175 is okay with us.”
Councilman Ricky Jernigan: saw the folly in
negotiating the aready agreed upon City Manager
salary.
The City Attorney explained that the Council could vote on Mr. Rosenthal’s raise “tonight.”
The motions were cleared from the table.
Councilwoman Harris proposed a motion to authorize a contract amendment to $180,000. It failed.
City Councilman Jernigan made a motion to grant Mr. Rosenthal a raise to $175k.
Mr. Carter asked if that was acceptable to Mr. Rosenthal. It was, and the vote was unanimous.
Epilogue
The City Council can now begin planning for Mr. Rosenthal’s one-year evaluation.
Note: all photos in this story are file photos
