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Reference Notes
Courtney Barker
TAB 4
Terrie Franklin – Neighborhood Services Director, Titusville, FL 321-383-5779
Ms. Franklin has worked with Ms. Barker since 2004. Ms. Barker is one of the best Directors
Ms. Franklin has had the pleasure to work with.
Ms. Barker is very innovative and creative in her approach. She is very pleasant to every
employee in any organization and has the ability to work well within a very diverse workforce.
She always considers all sides when dealing with residents, contractors, and developers. She
listens carefully to others and offers solutions which are designed to produce favorable
outcomes. She supports her employees and empowers them.
Ms. Barker is currently working on a large housing development project using an NSP
(Neighborhood Stabilization Program) grant. The project is further along than expected due to
her creativity and leadership. She identifies what needs to happen to move any project forward.
After the previous Community Development Director retired the Department was reorganized.
Ms. Barker became responsible for overseeing code enforcement, planning, and development.
Rather than start fresh and change how all their work was done, she asked employees to suggest
which of their practices were successful and which were not. She only made changes to their
procedures which were necessary to improve the organization and better serve the community.
Ms. Barker keeps her employees abreast of what is happening in the City. She provides
information through meetings but also calls them when a key issue arises between meetings. She
works very well with the public, both individually and in groups. The personnel she has hired
have turned out to be good employees.
Ms. Barker rallies her employees around the Council’s vision. One revitalization project in a
low income area faced many obstacles. The property required rezoning, environmental concerns
existed, and the community was divided over the project. Ms. Barker held community meetings
to bring residents together. She instilled a very high level of customer service ethic into her
organization. She believes transparency creates trust; so she has earned the community’s trust.
The City has had to deal with a very large budget deficit over the past three years. Ms. Barker
finessed the budget and accomplished all the goals set by the City Manager and the Council.
She also manages the CRA’s (Community Reinvestment Act) budget. Even while handling an
immense workload Ms. Barker is still timely when responding to questions from employees. She
even responds to questions on her furlough days.
When situations become controversial Ms. Barker is very aware of potential problems; so she
does not jump to conclusions. She meets with all sides and treats all parties equitably. Nothing
in her past would embarrass an employer, if a background check were conducted.
Ms. Franklin believes strongly in Ms. Barker’s leadership abilities and has encouraged her to
pursue local government CEO positions. She would absolutely hire Ms. Barker.
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