HIGH SPRINGS – The High Springs City Commission has set a hearing date of Oct. 11 to consider former City Manager Jeri Langman’s appeal of their decision to terminate her employment. The hearing was set during a special city commission meeting held Oct. 2; at the same meeting in which commissioners short-listed replacement candidates for her position.Langman initially requested a hearing date of Oct. 25, the second regularly scheduled meeting of the month, to give her attorney time to prepare for the hearing; noting that she had requested, but not yet received, a list of goals and directions commissioners gave as the reason for her termination.
Because the requested date was past the 30-day deadline called for in the High Springs City Charter, the Commission denied her first request.
Langman then asked for a hearing on Oct 18 or 16. Noting that Commissioner Sue Weller would be out of town on those dates, the Commission denied her second request as well.
Commissioners decided on the Oct. 11 date because it would fall on a regularly scheduled Commission meeting night. Mayor Dean Davis directed Interim City Manager/City Clerk Jenny Parham to include the hearing on the agenda as the last item, saying that citizens wouldn’t have to sit through a lengthy hearing before getting to the business on the agenda. As of press time, 16 new items were recently added to the agenda for that meeting, all scheduled for consideration prior to the Langman termination hearing.
Commissioners also asked Parham to locate an attorney, if a new city attorney wasn’t on board by that date, to act on the City’s behalf during the hearing.
The City Charter specifies a quasi judicial hearing as the format for a hearing on the termination of a charter officer. During a quasi judicial hearing, the meeting is open to the public, but anyone giving testimony must be sworn in prior to testifying and are usually restricted to facts without personal opinions.
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email Cwalker@alachuatoday.com
Langman initially requested a hearing date of Oct. 25, the second regularly scheduled meeting of the month, to give her attorney time to prepare for the hearing; noting that she had requested, but not yet received, a list of goals and directions commissioners gave as the reason for her termination.
Because the requested date was past the 30-day deadline called for in the High Springs City Charter, the Commission denied her first request.
Langman then asked for a hearing on Oct 18 or 16. Noting that Commissioner Sue Weller would be out of town on those dates, the Commission denied her second request as well.
Commissioners decided on the Oct. 11 date because it would fall on a regularly scheduled Commission meeting night. Mayor Dean Davis directed Interim City Manager/City Clerk Jenny Parham to include the hearing on the agenda as the last item, saying that citizens wouldn’t have to sit through a lengthy hearing before getting to the business on the agenda. As of press time, 16 new items were recently added to the agenda for that meeting, all scheduled for consideration prior to the Langman termination hearing.
Commissioners also asked Parham to locate an attorney, if a new city attorney wasn’t on board by that date, to act on the City’s behalf during the hearing.
The City Charter specifies a quasi judicial hearing as the format for a hearing on the termination of a charter officer. During a quasi judicial hearing, the meeting is open to the public, but anyone giving testimony must be sworn in prior to testifying and are usually restricted to facts without personal opinions.
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