MOUNT DORA CITY COUNCIL UPDATE: August 1 meeting

By Marc Crail
District 4 Representative and Vice Mayor
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There were plenty of fireworks during our August 1, 2023 City Council meeting. As usual, I'm reporting to you as an individual council member and not in any official capacity.  I've chosen several items of particular interest to feature in this report.

Our new Public Works complex will be built on Limit Ave. near the intersection of Donnelly St. on a 17.65 acre parcel. The estimated cost is $21,232,950. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in January and take about 13 months. This project is sorely​ needed and has been in the works for years. I'm glad to hear that it is finally coming to fruition. We approved purchasing some necessary construction materials early so that the construction process won't be held up later by supply chain procurement delays.

For the third time in the past few months I was taken by surprise, this time by the strenuous objections of some of my colleagues when our City Manager requested that we hire an interim City Attorney. Here's some background. Last month our City Attorney, Sherry Sutphen tendered her resignation stating that she could no longer work with City Manager, Patrick Comiskey due to poor communications. I think she has done a good job for the City over the past 5 years and was disappointed by her decision to resign. In her resignation letter, she offered to stay on the job until a replacement could be found but she asked that finding a suitable replacement should be done quickly.

The City Manager contacted several qualified law firms in the area to find out if they would be willing to take over the role of City Attorney on and interim basis until a permanent law firm could be hired. He recommended a law firm that provides City Attorney similar services to Clermont and St. Cloud.

It's important to know that City Council only has 2 employees who report directly to us, the City Manager and the City Attorney. All other City employees are supervised by the City Manager. When our only 2 employees are at odds, the efficiency of our operations is impaired. In this case, each of them has gripes with the other and their relationship is badly damaged. It's a bad situation and it's hard to ascertain where the truth lies.

After a long and sometimes passionate discussion, we tabled the Manager's recommendation to hire an interim City Attorney and our outgoing City Attorney. Ms Sutphen agreed to stay on until a search for a new permanent City Attorney can be conducted. Some members did not think that the City Manager should have taken it upon himself to solicit possible interim attorney firms to be approved by City Council. I did not. I worry about the Manager and Attorney's ability to function cooperatively but I hope they can.

In another surprise to me, Council member Rolfson, joined by Mayor Stile and Councilman Walker voted for a motion to suspend our City Manager with full pay and benefits until an investigation is concluded. This investigation is about to begin and it concerns allegations by one of our (interim) Directors concerning the City Manager. Council members Bryant, Cataldo, Dawson and I voted no. A neutral, third party investigator was approved and will begin her work immediately. If the investigator we selected recommends suspending the City Manager pending the outcome of her investigation, I will vote "yes" but I felt it was premature to take that action at this point, pending the investigator's recommendation.

Contentious meetings like this one concern me. When City Council is divided, we are not operating at our best which is particularly important at this time when many big decisions need to be made in the upcoming months. The serious disagreements that I have described over the past several months have arisen over legitimate concerns and issues. I believe that each City Council member is trying to do her/his best for Mount Dora. Our disagreements reflect the passion and concerns that each individual has for our city and its citizens. I do worry that if we can't find a way forward, long lasting damage will result. In my opinion, we are duty bound to work the plan that we all agreed to, as quickly as possible, and hopefully we can find an acceptable resolution. Easier said than done.

Our quote for today is from Eleanor Roosevelt. "Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway."

Thanks for your interest in Mount Dora's government. Let's hope for clarity and progress.

By Marc Crail
District 4 Representative and Vice Mayor

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