NORTH PORT – Four of five North Port city commissioners declined to pursue allegations brought by fellow board member Debbie McDowell that City Manager Jerome Fletcher exceeded his authority with several actions, including urging state legislators to back off adding Warm Mineral Springs to a list of outstanding Florida springs.
The decision came when McDowell’s motion for an independent investigation to determine whether Fletcher violated city charter and his employment contract died for lack of a second. It followed a day-long special meeting Tuesday for a team building and conflict resolution exercise for the five commissioners, as well as the city manager, city clerk and city attorney.
The session was called in part because Fletcher declined to attend a one-on-one session with McDowell unless ordered to do so by the entire board.
McDowell was the only city commissioner who opposed Fletcher’s hiring in 2021 and gave him the most severe six-month review.
The complaint and the city charter
McDowell’s complaints against Fletcher stemmed from her belief that Fletcher made decisions that, under her strict interpretation of the city charter, should be first approved in a public meeting by the City Commission.
McDowell delivered her complaint against Fletcher to Human Resources Director Christine McDade and City Attorney Amber Slayton on April 25 and it went to the commission after Slayton determined it was not an HR matter.
In addition to the Warm Mineral Springs decision, the other allegations involved submission of a federal funding request prior to a public discussion and vote by the commission; a decision to discontinue the sale of passes for Warm Mineral Springs; creation of a local/small business incubator program that included the input of Mayor Barbara Langdon but not a formal commission vote; and the decision to institute a citywide pay study in 2021 without commission approval.
McDowell admitted that the complaint fell in a gray area between Fletcher going to the commission for approval on decision or exercising authority under his job description, but said “collectively it shows a pattern.”
Majority rule
After wrapping up the roughly seven-hour conflict resolution session Tuesday, Mayor Barbara Langdon, Vice Mayor Alice White, and commissioners Pete Emrich and Phil Stokes decided Fletcher was just doing his job.
In sidelining the application to designate Warm Mineral Springs an “Outstanding Florida Springs,” Fletcher said he did so because it conflicted with the board’s desire for a public-private partnership to redevelop the springs property.
“I took the decision to make sure we chose the path that was aligned with the best interests of the board,” Fletcher said.
Langdon, who conferred with Fletcher prior to his sidelining of the application, said there was “no time to bring the issue to the commission before our departure to Tallahassee.”
Other board members also downplayed the decision.
“I don’t agree that there was any underlying bad intent of the city manager; he was following our direction,” White said.
She stressed on the springs issue that the vote to pursue a public-private partnership to develop the parkland surrounding the Warm Mineral Springs historic area had been 5-0.
Stokes said the special springs designation would have had an impact on potential future development in unincorporated Sarasota and Charlotte counties, with financial implications that “I don’t think this commission wrapped our heads around when we promoted it.”
“Maybe it would have been nice to come to us to ask for our permission but we were all off and running to Tallahassee to advocate for our own interests,” he added, “I don’t see it as an issue, I don’t see the other seven as significant issues.”
McDowell calls herself ‘voice of the people’
The constructive conflict training by Dr. Meagan Baskin in the session helped underscore that McDowell has a different viewpoint from her four fellow commissioners and the city manager, while those four are in sync with Fletcher.
Fletcher expressed frustration with having to expend an inordinate amount of time in dealing with “20% of the board” 100% of the time.
“We really need to have better balance,” he said, referring to the day-long special meeting.
“We need to just be prepared to move on,” he later added.
McDowell expressed frustration with an apparent inability to find common ground and also highlighted the schism between herself and the rest of the board, while discounting their relationship with the general public.
“When I’m sitting up here on the dais, I am the voice of the people,” she said, “And I recognize it’s not just the people of today, it’s the people of tomorrow, 10 years from now and 20 years from now and I try very, very hard to show respect to the roles each of us have sitting up here, but I can tell you from my seat, that is not shared with everybody up on this dais.
“It is becoming more and more obvious to myself as much as I try to look past it, it is becoming more and more obvious to our citizens.”
What’s next?
The city is also awaiting results of a citizen survey on how to best proceed with Warm Mineral Springs. It is also engaging in talks with WMS Development Group LLC for a public-private partnership for their development.
The next move may come from conservative political activist Conni Brunni, an Englewood resident who owns property in North Port. During public comment Brunni said she would start a petition drive to remove Fletcher from his role as city manager via a referendum.
A successful petition would require signatures from 5% of the registered voters in the city. If such a petition is filed with the city clerk and the signatures verified, the matter would go before the City Commission.