Legality of city manager termination questioned

HIGH SPRINGS – The legality of a resolution approved Monday night, Sept. 17 by the High Springs City Commission that gave High Springs City Manager Jeri Langman 10 days notice of the commission’s intent to terminate her employment has been called into question. The termination notice was made only days after Langman was suspended with pay during the Sept. 13, 2012 special city commission meeting.

Resolution 2012-R was approved in a 3-2 vote with Commissioners Sue Weller and Scott Jamison dissenting.  Approving the measure were Mayor Dean Davis, Vice Mayor Bob Barnas and Commissioner Linda Gestrin. Jamison and Weller objected to the timing of the action, and requested that the item be voted on during a regular commission meeting instead of during the Sept. 17 meeting.

The Sept. 17 meeting agenda listed “Discuss and Consider Options Regarding the City Manager Position” and made no mention of a pre-termination resolution.  Jamison stated he didn’t think residents were properly notified of the action by the way the item was listed on the agenda.

Mayor Dean Davis disagreed citing this method as the method used with previous city manager terminations and said he had checked with City Clerk Jenny Parham prior to setting the agenda item to make sure it was properly listed. 

Also hotly discussed was Section 3.03 of the High Springs Charter which states that to remove a charter officer, “the Commission shall adopt a preliminary resolution stating reasons for the intended removal…”  No reasons were listed in the proposed resolution.

Previous High Springs City Attorney Thomas DePeter, who wrote an earlier resolution, which current City Attorney Raymond Ivey used to create Resolution 2012-R, said he had emphasized the need for reasons with an earlier commission under a particular set of circumstances, but stated that requirement may or may not apply in this situation. 

Weller requested they wait to obtain an opinion from Ivey, but Barnas read an email into the record, which he stated was from City Attorney Ivey, in which Ivey indicated the resolution was complete as written. 

Weller also suggested it would be difficult for anyone to defend themselves in a public hearing if the reasons for termination were not listed.  The resolution ultimately passed without listing reasons for Langman’s termination.

However, local attorney Linda Chapman, called the resolution into question in a telephone conversation, followed up in a Sept. 18 letter to Ivey.  In the letter Chapman stated the resolution “contains no reasons for Ms. Langman’s suspension or termination of her employment.  Therefore Ms. Langman is still the City Manager, and is on paid administrative leave, not suspension, since, once again she cannot be suspended or terminated without a proper resolution.”

Chapman cited the High Springs City Charter in her letter, which states that in order to remove a charter officer, the commission shall adopt a preliminary resolution stating reasons for the intended removal and shall offer the charter officer an opportunity for a public hearing before the commission on the matters raised by the resolution. The preliminary resolution may also suspend the charter officer from duty immediately with pay.

Chapman claims that due process was not observed and denying Langman proper notice and a hearing is a violation of her rights under the state and federal constitutions.

Chapman continued that according to City Charter, if the Commission wishes to move forward with Langman’s termination, the Commission would need to put it on an agenda for a regular city commission meeting and issue a new resolution stating the reasons for her suspension/removal from office.

High Springs has scheduled a special city commission meeting for Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012, at 6:30 p.m.  As of Wednesday, Sept. 19, related agenda topics include discussion and consideration of city manager position duties and delegation of city manager duties.  A new resolution is not listed.

In the short term, Parham was asked to be the “go-between” between the commission and the employees until an interim city manager could be found.  She agreed to do so, but has repeatedly stated her desire not to serve as interim city manager.

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