Show Notes: Jennifer Poirrier - Shifting Sands: Navigating Tourism, Hurricanes and Leadership When You Never Planned to Be in ChargeEpisode 173 of The HaltingWinter Podcast

Overview In this episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Seth Winterhalter interviews Jennifer Poirrier, City Manager of Clearwater, Florida. Jennifer shares her remarkable journey from HR professional to leading a major tourism destination with 15 million annual visitors. Her story is one of unexpected leadership, as she never planned to become a city manager but found herself thrust into the role after serving as assistant city manager for just two months. Jennifer's people-first approach, rooted in her HR background, has helped Clearwater navigate back-to-back "500-year storms" that caused $80 million in damage, as well as challenging issues of tourism management, workforce development, and changing civic engagement dynamics.

Episode Highlights:

• Private to Public Sector Journey: How the September 11th attacks catalyzed Jennifer's transition from private sector to government service
• The Power of Mentorship: The city managers who saw Jennifer's potential and pushed her beyond her comfort zone into leadership roles
• Hurricane Response and Recovery: Managing Clearwater through catastrophic storms that caused $80 million in damage and leading a team that accomplished "nothing short of a miracle" to restore operations
• Tourism Management Challenges: Balancing the needs of year-round residents who want a "small town feel" with the economic reality of hosting 15 million annual tourists
• HR Background as Leadership Strength: How Jennifer's focus on people and relationships uniquely prepared her for city management
• Leadership Through COVID: Being part of a small crisis team that guided the city through unprecedented pandemic challenges
• Florida's Transparency Paradox: The benefits of government transparency alongside the challenges created by Florida's extensive public records laws
• Addressing Public Meeting Disruptions: The difficult decision to remove non-agenda public comment after national groups targeted council meetings
• Work-Life Integration: Creating a "public service family" (husband in fire service and now city management, daughter in police academy) that supports her leadership role
• People-First Recognition: Being honored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal for modernizing Clearwater's compensation structure to attract and retain talent

Connect with Jennifer Poirrier:

• LinkedIn: Jennifer Poirrier

Resources Mentioned:

• Florida City and County Management Association (FCCMA) Annual Conference 
• International City/County Management Association (ICMA)

Connect With Seth Winterhalter

• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sethwinterhalter
• Website: www.HaltingWinter.com

About HaltingWinter Municipal Solutions: At HaltingWinter, our mission is to build stronger cities through stronger leaders by providing municipal leadership development services, rooted in the ABCs of Impactful Leadership framework. To explore how we can strengthen you and your municipality, visit haltingwinter.com.

Upcoming Events: Don't miss Seth Winterhalter as he keynotes the 2025 APWA South Carolina Chapter Annual Conference in Spartanburg, June 23rd-26th. Register here: https://southcarolina.apwa.org/event/2025-annual-conference/

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