here - Satellite Beach

Courtney H. Barker, AICP
TAB 4
I believe my staff would say that I am fair and supportive of them. They would say that I
empower them and encourage them to complete their projects and work without a lot of
oversight. I believe they would say that I require professional behavior and respectful interaction
with citizens and team members, creating an exceptional work environment for us over the years.
I believe my staff would also agree that while we have had to make hard decisions on
reorganizations and staff reductions, that the decisions I made were fair and in the best interest of
the City.
My elected officials would say that I am a knowledgeable and decisive individual providing
them with honest and direct advice. They would say that I am innovative and results oriented
leading to timely project completion of projects and initiatives with great results. I believe they
would say that I enjoy fulfilling their goals regarding budgetary, operations and community
building projects, such as the domestic abuse transitional housing unit project I designed to
address their concerns regarding a lack of facilities in North Brevard for domestic abuse victims.
My strengths are my ability to adapt quickly to new circumstances and quickly design solutions
for new challenges. I believe I am a great problem solver that can create consensus-based
solutions to the satisfaction of all parties. I also believe that I possess and demonstrate
compassion and empathy to be able to understand the special circumstances, needs and
perspectives of citizens and staff members when providing assistance with resolving concerns.
In terms of weaknesses, I may have a tendency to judge a situation too quickly. Over the years, I
have learned not to react too quickly until I have assessed a situation fully. This allows me time
to provide a more thoughtful response and ultimately leads to determining the best course of
action.
I believe I have achieved the greatest success in my career by creating a great team environment
that results in a team desire to accomplish new and exciting projects and continually improve. A
recent example of a team success is the Inspiration Village Development Project that included
the management of large scale funding commitments from the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, community involvement, planning, engineering design, permitting, and
contracting, and construction management. The desire of multiple departments, as well as my
own team, to complete this project for the community demonstrates my ability to build a great
working environment that motivates employees to succeed.
Continuous improvement includes measuring for success, and a great example of how this has is
my work with the Code Enforcement Department for the City of Titusville. Over the course of
two years, the Department increased in performance by completing nearly twice the amount of
inspections per hour and closing 45% of their cases prior to the first re-inspection. Sometimes,
the measures are qualitative, such as the City’s award of the SNAP Certification from the
Economic Development Commission for expedited development review and permitting. Goals
and measures can be an important tool to increase efficiency and improve performance, as long
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