‘Back to Square One’

By Emanuel Griffin and Wayne Smith

Palatka Daily News

egriffin@palatkadailynews.com

wsmith@palatkadailynews.com

Palatka leaders kept the same energy from last week and decided Wednesday that Bill Shanahan would not be returning as city manager.

The Palatka City Commission delivered its final verdict Wednesday at the conclusion of a virtual emergency meeting Mayor Terrill Hill called to discuss Shanahan’s firing and possible rehiring.

Instead, the commission reaffirmed its decision to remove Shanahan from his position as city manager after just five months on the job.

Hill made a motion to rehire Shanahan during the online meeting, and commissioners voted just as they did last week, 3-2 against Shanahan.

Hill said he is disappointed Palatka will have to look for new leadership. The city has had five city managers or interims since July 2018.

“We’re back to square one and that’s not where I wanted to be,” Hill said. 

“In no way I’m happy with where we are,” Hill said after the meeting. “I’m concerned about the perception of this community for any manager who is looking for a position (here).

“I’m glad that today the commissioners decided to have a discussion and to give the public an explanation as to what was in place. I applaud the commission for handling this meeting with appropriate respect and professionalism.”

More than 200 people watched the meeting on YouTube, with many sharing Hill’s sentiments and expressing support for reinstating Shanahan.

The public comments were not enough to convince City Commissioners Rufus Borom, Mary Lawson Brown and Tammie McCaskill to change their minds. They voted to terminate Shanahan last week and voted against bringing him back Wednesday after a discussion lasting more than two hours.

Shanahan was not at the meeting, which was recorded using the video conferencing program Zoom. Despite losing a job with an annual salary of $120,000, Shanahan said the decision was probably for the best.

“After all the things that were said at the meeting, (Palatka) is probably not a good place for me to be,” Shanahan said.

Hill’s motion to bring back Shanahan was seconded by Commissioner Justin Campbell, who voted against Shanahan’s termination last week and said the commission made a hasty decision in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We did not do the due diligence of giving him an evaluation or the opportunity to explain himself on a platform where we all would be getting the same information at the same time,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the commission was supposed to have a workshop analyzing Shanahan’s job performance earlier this month, but COVID-19 concerns postponed those plans.

Borom said a similar workshop is necessary for any future city manager hires, stating the commission has never done a formal review of any of the people who previously worked in the position.

Unlike last week’s meeting, Borom was willing to discuss why he made the motion to terminate Shanahan. He said Shanahan ignored the advice and inquires of city officials, misallocated city funds and had a history of bad leadership in other cities.

“In the Betsy (Driggers) situation, he didn’t follow guidance,” Borom said.

Brown agreed Shanahan mishandled the investigation of Driggers, the former city clerk and interim city manager who retired after she was accused of making racist and other inappropriate comments about city commissioners and staff members.

“I think Betsy brought more to (the city) than Shanahan did,” said Brown, who stated in March that Driggers is a good friend of hers.

Shanahan said he followed the advice of City Attorney Don Holmes, who is currently the interim city manager. According to Shanahan, the decision to allow Driggers to retire protected Palatka from a potential lawsuit.

“If I didn’t do it right and didn’t do it professionally, that would have been because I wasn’t given good information,” Shanahan said. “I followed the processes that are set up in the state of Florida.”

Borom also expressed disapproval of Shanahan’s decision to give a city employee an annual $18,000 raise in March and said the increased spending could have negatively impacted the city’s budget.

Shanahan said the raise was given to Human Resources Director Debra Robinson after Driggers was placed on leave because Robinson took on responsibilities previously handled by the former city clerk.

During the meeting, Robinson confirmed the raise came with additional work, and Finance Director Logan Becker said the city was still within $20 of the budget for the year.

“At this time, we have not busted the budget,” Becker said.

Becker said there will be a budget report during the next commission meeting, which is scheduled April 23.

Despite his motion to rehire Shanahan not being approved, Hill said he was glad the meeting happened because it allowed commissioners to hear each other’s perspectives and be more transparent with residents.

“If the people see us divided, we can never ask them to be unified,” Hill said.

Hill also thanked Shanahan for his “professionalism throughout this entire process.” He said Shanahan built many positive relationships in the city.

“I had an opportunity to speak with him (before the meeting) and he had not closed the door on the idea of being a part of Palatka,” Hill said. “I’m going to apologize (to Shanahan) for where we are and how things transpired.

“I think Bill Shanahan was a good city manager. I watched him develop his 100-day plan and I watched him meet with stakeholders throughout this entire community.”

Hill said Shanahan was trying to move his family and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic while doing his duty to Palatka.

“And you make a very difficult decision which ends up in the resignation of a longtime employee,” Hill said. “He did what a manager is supposed to do. That’s just my opinion and three commissioners felt differently. I hope that he understands that.

“More importantly, going forward, we have to deal with our frustrations better. We need to talk about things and make sure we don’t wait until the very end, when the clock starts running out, to make decisions that seem hasty.”

Hill said it’s his job as mayor to resolve conflict and promote dialogue while keeping residents informed.

“More than anything, we’re the face of this community,” Hill said. “And if we can’t work together, then we can’t expect anyone else to. I was glad that people were willing to sit back down and talk and glad that there was a change of heart in sharing.

“And while I don’t agree with the situation, I agree that I think we can work toward a solution.”