- April 26, 2024
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In a roller-coaster ride of employment drama, the Bunnell City Commission on Monday decided in a late-night vote to begin the search to replace City Manager Armando Martinez after the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement on a salary and contract extension.
The City Commission, with a 3-1 vote, will look to hire a new city manager — a decision that comes on the heels of going back and forth on what to do with Martinez over the last two months.
In June, a divided commission voted out Martinez as the city manager with a 3-2 vote — one that came around 1 a.m. Commissioners Elbert Tucker, John Rogers and Bill Baxley voted against renewing Martinez’s contract.
Just six weeks later, however, the City Commission reconsidered its decision. At a July 22 meeting, the commission voted 3-2 to negotiate a new contract with Martinez. Baxley had a change of heart at that meeting, voting in support of the contract negotiations.
At that point, much of the drama appeared to be in the rearview mirror. Until Monday.
After about 3.5 hours of meeting, City Attorney Lonnie Groot, who was tasked with negotiating a new contract with Martinez, stated during his comments that the commissioners couldn’t reach an agreement on what to offer Martinez. An argument ensued between Mayor Catherine Robinson and Tucker.
Martinez stated he would not accept a salary less than $97,500. But Tucker, Rogers and Baxley all agreed they wouldn’t offer anything above $80,000.
“Well, obviously, there were no good-faith negotiations here,” Robinson said during the discussions. “And the comment was made earlier: ‘You get what you pay for.’ So, you know, what are you all wanting? You want to pay someone $80,000 to do the job? Is that what you want?”
Robinson went on the say that she doesn’t believe a $19,000 cut is fair and equitable.
“I can’t even believe that’s on the table,” she continued. “That’s ridiculous. That’s a ridiculous cut in the salary.”
Tucker, who has spearheaded the charge to oust Martinez, said Robinson might be giving Martinez too much credit for the successes in the city.
“I haven’t backed up a moment from what I decided to do,” Tucker said in regard to his motion.
City Commissioner Jenny Crain-Brady, who stated Bunnell was no longer a “Podunk, 4-square-mile little town” that she grew up in, walked out of the meeting in disgust after almost four hours.
Tucker had already made a motion to advertise for a new city manager to be hired from Florida, though not from Miami, he said. The proposed salary would be around $80,000.
The City Commission will decide complete job requirements for its next city manager at an upcoming public meeting.
But before the decision was made, Robinson said the entire situation was “laughable.”
“I thought we were doing something in good faith here,” Robinson said. “I missed the mark in what we were doing. That’s fine — majority votes, majority rules. If you all want to go down in history as taking the city back, that’s your decision.”
