Fort Walton Beach Council minutes — 10-28-08 regular minutes — reading text

requested the information ftom the Finance Director on Monday, October 20, and he did not receive the information until requested Friday, October 24 after 5 pm, and that the information received was not complete, and that he finally received the requested information on Saturday afternoon, October 25. He stated his opinion that the City Manager, along with her staff, should be responsible for their actions, and that the City Manager is in a " Catch 22" because position, if she and her staff say they don' t know the law, she is, in effect, saYing she is not qualified to be City Manager. Dr. Pullen relayed his opinion that the ultimate responsibility lies with the elected officials of the City, and hindsight will ask why they didn' t take responsibility and placed constraints on the City Manager and her staff. He again stated his opinion that the problems are because the Council allowed the City Manager and other City officials to administer the City in secret, and no one has heard the City Manager' s explanation of why she placed the City in this predicament. Dr. Pullen took a stand that the contract of the City Manager should be terminated, for cause, and that he cannot do this by himself, and that that is the only possible step to take to reduce potential for loss of insurance and to ensure these abuses do not reoccur. Dr. Pullen moved that all City meetings will be open to the public except those prohibited by law. Motion failed for lack of a second. Dr. Pullen stated he may, at a later date, place on the agenda a motion for termination of the City Manager. Mr. Minich objected to this, stating if Dr. Pullen has something to say, then say it now and get the issue settled. Mr. Minich then referred to Dr. Pullen' s call he phone placed to the Finance Director on Friday evening while she was out to dinner at a local restaurant with her young daughter, and that Dr. Pullen' s telephone etiquette towards the Finance Director was threatening, loud, abusive, and totally inappropriate, so much that the Finance Director had to step outside the restaurant. It was noted there was a memo ftom the Finance Director regarding the incident, and the Mayor asked that the memo be placed into the record. A recess was requested while copies of the memo were made to present to Council. RECESS The meeting recessed at 7: 50 pm RECONVENE The meeting reconvened at 7 :57 pm. SUNsmNE LAW DISCUSSION ( CONT) The Mayor advised that he received a call late Friday evening ftom the City Manager in reference to this incident, and it was at his suggestion that the Finance Director prepare the memo in case anything came I up this evening in reference to the issue. Dr. Pullen commented that Mr. Minich' s version of the incident makes it sound like he was there. Dr. Pullen wanted it noted that when the Finance Director told him she was at dinner, he offered to call her back at a later time, or even the next morning, but the Finance Director stated it was all right, she could talk to him now. He also stated she indicted she would outside she could hear him because of step as not the noise ftom the restaurant. Dr. Pullen admitted he was because the salaries in the upset differed report ftom what was originally received in an earlier report, and that the Finance Director stated she misunderstood the request. Dr. Pullen offered the Finance Director his apologies, but that he was upset at the time of the phone call.  41 Regular Agenda 10/ 28/ 08 SUNSmNE LAW DISCUSSION (CONT) The Mayor advised that in the past, Council had tried to censor Dr. Pullen because of harassment of the staff and requesting unusual, unnecessary information, but Council voted not to censor because they figured Dr. Pullen had gotten their message. The Mayor continued that both times, Dr. Pullen stated he didn' t care and continued on, and stated at a meeting that both the Mayor and City Manager were conspiring to run the City in an unethical matter, and tonight again stated that another conspiracy exists. f""The Mayor stated he understands that Dr. Pullen doesn' t care, but he wanted this brought out to further document that Dr. Pullen' s behavior toward Staff has not changed; that he does what he wants to do, then apologizes afterwards knowing that he probably will not be censored by Council. Mr. Minich moved to censor Dr. Pullen and that any communication of an official nature with the Finance Director will be written for the next three months. Mr. Holmes seconded motion. Mr. Minich commented that for whatever reasons, Council members should never threaten or yell at a City staff member over the phone, and also that Dr. Pullen threatened the Finance Director that if he did not have the information by the next day ( Saturday), he would take it to Council. Mr. Minich also noted that when Council tried to censor Dr. Pullen previously, he went to the newspaper stating he didn' t care, and that was totally unprofessional. Mr. Holmes agreed with Mr. Minich, and stated Council looks like ' idiots' because of this type of behavior, and it is embarrassing. Mr. Holmes stated that Dr. Pullen disgraces the rest of Council when he gets on his rants, and that he had no right to call the Finance Director and he obviously didn' t know what he was talking about as the information was there and it didn' t make a bit of difference, any questions could have waited until Monday. Mr. Holmes wondered what Dr. Pullen was going to do with this information, and noted that the DRC issue could have been handled in a timely and efficient manner without Dr. Pullen bringing his personal agenda into it. Mr. Holmes stated his support of this motion and he hopes it will allow some continuity on Council until Dr. Pullen' s term is up in March of2009. Dr. Pullen responded to Mr. Holmes' comments about the DRC, stating when he brought up the DRC in December regarding the Harbour Place development, there was a of order point Mr. Minich that it did by not apply, and nothing was done and now the problems have to be solved. The Mayor responded he remembers the discussion and suggested an opinion ftom the attorney be given and no motion was made at that time. Mr. Garvie stated he knew nothing about the incident in question until now, so his comments reflect the conversation that is taking place, but he felt it was important to note that during the incident Dr. Pullen was in an emotional state and that he asked the Finance Director if it was a convenient time to talk and she advised it was all right for the conversation to take place. Mr. Garvie noted that Dr. Pullen did apologize to the Finance Director when he realized he was emotional, and that means a lot to Mr. Garvie and he cannot censor someone for their emotions and he would not support the motion. Mr. Reeves stated his respect for Mr. Minich, Mr. Garvie, and Mr. Holmes, and the way they handle procedural issues and that he listens to what they have to say; however, he feels that Dr. Pullen has come f"'" up with many issues, and not in a constructive way, and he does not feel that language such as conspiracy' should be used, and reinforces the inappropriateness of the incident in question, and he will support the motion to censor. Further Council comments included that any questions on the information received on Friday after business hours could have waited until Monday morning; that the request, on the surface, did not