TREASURE ISLAND — City Manager Charlie Van Zant won a 14-month contract on a 4-1 vote May 19, ending the interim agreement he has worked under for the past 10 months.
The deal, which runs through July 15, 2027, emerged as a compromise after commissioners split three ways during a sometimes pointed review of Van Zant’s performance. Commissioner Arthur Czyszczon cast the dissenting vote.
Mayor John Doctor opened the discussion by suggesting the commission take no action, which would have triggered an automatic one-year renewal of the interim contract.
“I think this would not be a good time to get rid of a city manager,” Doctor said. “I think we all probably agree with that.”
But Commissioner Arden Dickey pushed for a longer commitment, saying he had planned to move that the mayor negotiate a two-year agreement under substantially the same terms.
“Instead of just having an automatic renewal, let’s go ahead and lock this in for at least two years,” Dickey said.
Czyszczon countered that he had intended to move against renewing the contract at all.
“Sounds like we have a bit of a discussion,” Dickey said.
Commissioner Chris Clark sided with Dickey, arguing a one-year deal would make it difficult to retain a manager who wants to put down roots in the community.
“It’s going to be hard to attract anybody if you give them a one-year contract and people are trying to fire them all the time,” Clark said. “I won’t want to be in that situation.”
Vice Mayor Tammy Vasquez initially backed the mayor’s no-action approach, though she acknowledged reservations about Van Zant’s tenure.
“I’ve had some concerns along the way that I’ve shared with the city manager, but if that is your suggestion I will follow that suggestion,” she said.
Dickey kept pressing for a two-year deal, citing Van Zant’s responsiveness over the past 10 months.
“He’s very responsive to any request I’ve made. Even if it wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, he still always gets back to me. He always follows up,” Dickey said. “We as a City Commission owe him the vote of confidence by extending this for more than just one renewal period.”
Czyszczon disagreed sharply.
“I have a different experience. I don’t get my emails answered in a timely manner,” he said, adding that he supported the mayor’s one-year approach.
Van Zant himself broke the impasse, asking commissioners to settle the matter that night rather than revisit it in two weeks under board rules that allow any commissioner to reopen the discussion.
“I don’t mind putting my hand on the hot stove once. I’d like not to have this discussion again June 2,” he told the commission. “I’ve got a contract here. We can strike through the term and go from tonight at midnight to July 15, 2027, if that’s the will of the majority. I’d like to walk out of here tonight with a signed contract.”
“I could live with another 14 months,” he added.
Dickey called the proposal a workable middle ground. “That makes sense to me as a compromise. It basically gives four of us what we wanted to some degree.”
Also during the discussion, commissioners raised a discrepancy in Van Zant’s interim contract over when he is required to earn credentials from the International City/County Management Association. One section gives him three years; another requires it within his first year.
Van Zant said he had signed essentially the same contract document as his predecessor, who held a master’s degree in public administration and was given three years to complete the credential.
“If you have a graduate degree but it’s not in public administration — which mine is in organizational leadership — they require three years,” Van Zant said. His degree is in organizational leadership, putting him 2 1/2 years into the qualifying period.
He said he expects to be recommended as an ICMA-credentialed manager in the first quarter of 2027.
Doctor said he had verified Van Zant’s account with the association.
“What he is saying is right on the money, and I’d like to see you get that,” the mayor said.