MELBOURNE BEACH MEDIATION PROCESS
AUGUST 22, 2001

SUMMARY REPORT

THE PROCESS

The Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium was asked by the Melbourne Beach Town Commission to
try to resolve a conflict between the Melbourne Beach town manager and the police chief.  The 
mediation process consisted of three parts:  an assessment, a mediation session between the town
manager and the police chief, and a facilitated session with the town commission, the town manager
and the police chief.

The assessment consisted of interviews with all of the town commissioners, the town manager, the 
police chief, and the town attorneys to help the mediator understand the issues involved in the
conflict.

The mediation session with the town manager and the police chief provided an opportunity for each 
of the parties to raise issues of concern to them and then jointly seek solutions with the aid of a 
third party.  The session ended with an impasse.  The two individuals were not able to come to
agreement on how to resolve their differences.

The facilitated session with the town council, the town manager, and the police chief provided an
opportunity to gain a common understanding of events over the past year that have contributed to 
the conflict.  Working with a list of issues and concerns derived from the assessment and the 
mediation session, participants developed some guidelines and actions to help improve 
communication and decorum in Melbourne Beach government.

THE FACILITATED SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COMMISSION

Background
The purpose of the meeting was to provide a forum where everyone could hear the same information
and then use that common base of information to decide how the town could best move forward.  
The anticipated outcome of the meeting was an agreement by all parties to a set of guidelines 
for use by the town manager and the police chief.

Meeting objectives

Ground rules
To help make the meeting productive and civil, the participants agreed to abide by the following
ground rules.

SUMMARY OF KEY EVENTS
The meeting facilitator gave an overview of key events that played a part in the development of the
conflict.  For each event, the facilitator presented the town manager's perspective on the event and 
the police chief's perspective on the event.  The events as well as the perspectives were drawn from
the mediation session.

The purpose of this exercise was to allow all of the participants to hear the same story and hear
both sides of the story.  The purpose of the exercise was not to uncover the undisputed facts, or
place blame on anyone.  The reason for reviewing the story was to gain a better understanding of
how the conflict developed.

ISSUES OF CONCERN
The following list of issues was drawn from assessment interviews and the mediation session.  
The issues were discussed during the meeting and remedies were developed where appropriate.  
The remedies follow the list of issues.

List of Issues

REMEDIES
Communication from Manager to Commissioners
The town manager needs to talk to commissioners to properly perform the job responsibilities.  
She/he should share the same information with all commissioners.  She/he should use reason and
discretion as to what the important things are that all commissioners should hear.  This issue has
recently been addressed during a commission meeting and it seems to be clear.

ADDITIONAL ACTION STEP
Transcribe the appropriate minutes from the commission meeting.  
Include the time frame and distribute it as appropriate.
If this guideline is not followed for an important issue, a warning the first time, and a note in the
personnel file the second time.

Communication from Police Chief to Commissioners
The police chief should always communicate with the manager first.  If the chief does not believe
he/she is getting the appropriate response from the manager, he/she can submit an item for
inclusion in the agenda for the next Commission Meeting.  Commissioners will make the final
decision as to whether the item gets included on the agenda.  It only takes one commissioner
to put and item on agenda but all commissioners should be informed of the proposed item.  
Back up information must accompany an item for inclusion on the agenda.

POSSIBLE ACTION STEP
Consideration of regular commission workshops to address these kinds of issues

Communication between Manager and Police Officers
Police officers can go to manager for information if they cannot get it from chief..

Grievances
Definition of a grievance is in town's rules and regulations.

The police chief can bring a grievance to the manager.  If they discuss it and the chief does not 
believe he/she is getting appropriate response, he/she has option to notify a commissioner, to get

it on the commission agenda.

The Commission should be careful about discussing personnel issues in public meetings.  
Discussions or procedures may be appropriate.

There should be no retaliation for filing grievances.
Town grievance procedures apply to all town personnel and new procedures were adopted
recently by Commission.

Excessive grievances should hot be a problem

Policies in Police Department
The Commission and the manger have the authority to change policies the the police department.

Requests for information
Requests for information should be short and succinct.  No editorializing is necessary

Police Department Personnel Files
Moving the Police Department Personnel files to the manager's office will be a topic for future
Commission discussion.

Involvement of Manager and Chief in Town Politics
This topic needs further discussion among Commission

It is better to work through the internal mechanisms of the town rather than taking your issues to the
streets.
The public importance of an issue is an important threshold.

Intimidation
Intimidation is addresssed in procedures.  The issue of intimidation by the Manager needs clarification
in procedures.  All five Commissioners should address any intimidation by the manager.

Gossiping
Gossiping, talking ill about others behind their back, is not appropriate by town staff.