Fort Meade City Manager Bagnall plans to depart after two years in job

This time, Jan Bagnall says he really does plan to leave.

The Fort Meade city manager gave notice Friday that he will resign his position as of Aug. 20, meeting the 30-day notice required by his contract. Bagnall, who has been city manager since April 2021, called it a family decision.

“My wife and I enjoyed the three-and-a-half years that we've been in Fort Meade,” Bagnall said Monday afternoon. “I think we're leaving it in a better place, and we wish them nothing but the best.”

Bagnall submitted his resignation last summer but then withdrew it, and the City Commission voted unanimously to retain him. But he said he will not change his mind this time.

Bagnall, 57, has faced turmoil throughout his tenure in Fort Meade, one of Polk County’s smallest cities, with a population of about 6,200. In May, he survived a 3-2 vote of the City Commission on his possible firing.

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That followed the disclosure that Bagnall had signed an order for a $642,000 fire engine without the approval of the City Commission, as required by the city’s charter for any transaction above $25,000. Bagnall called it an inadvertent mistake, saying that an employee had described the paperwork he signed as merely a change order to an existing contract.

Though Bagnall escaped termination, city commissioners voted to give him a written reprimand.

Fort Meade Mayor Jim Watts has called a special City Commission meeting for Thursday to discuss plans for finding a new city manager. But Watts said he would prefer that the decision on a permanent replacement be delayed until after November, when elections will be held for four seats.

One of those is the vacant seat previously held by Barbara Arnold, who resigned last month.

“He's going to be greatly missed,” Watts said of Bagnall. “He has done an excellent job in this town.”

Watts said Bagnall had received an offer in the private sector that paid more than the $100,000 salary he receives as Fort Meade’s city manager. Bagnall said he has several opportunities but had not yet committed to another job.

Watts praised Bagnall for greatly improving Fort Meade’s electrical department and for securing funds to complete a replacement of sewer lines in the city.

“We’ve got the best city staff morale that I've seen in the 22 years I've been here doing this,” Watts said. “It is pretty much widespread throughout the city that the employees loved him, for the most part.”

Petrina McCutchen has been perhaps the commissioner most critical of Bagnall. When he requested at the June 13 meeting that the written reprimand be withdrawn, McCutchen reacted with dismay.

“This is minimal,” she said of the punishment. “And I'll save my (further) comments for when it's my turn, but he asked the question that the letter of reprimand be taken out of his file. I don't know why when you've admitted that you screwed up. So why would we remove it out of your file? You should be grateful that you're still here after all the things you have done.”

McCutchen did not immediately respond to a voicemail left Monday afternoon.

Bagnall joined Fort Meade in 2020 as director of its electric department. The U.S. Navy veteran said he worked in the energy industry for about 30 years, most recently working remotely from Florida as vice president of Liberty Utilities in Ontario, Canada, before being hired in Fort Meade.

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After the previous city manager, Danielle Judd, left for another job, the Fort Meade City Commission voted unanimously to promote Bagnall.

Bagnall and some city commissioners have endured frequent criticism on social media. Residents have created such private groups as “The truth behind Fort Meade” and “WTF Fort Meade,” on which members regularly accuse Bagnall of misfeasance and other misdeeds.

Some residents have stated in social media posts that they were determined to see Bagnall removed. During a packed City Commission meeting covered by The Ledger in June, audience members openly contested some of Bagnall’s statements, leading Watts at times to bang his gavel and call for order. One woman was escorted from the meeting by a Polk County sheriff’s deputy after a verbal outburst.

Arnold cited the social media criticism as a major reason that she abruptly resigned at the end of the June 13 meeting.

In an interview Monday, Bagnall revealed to The Ledger for the first time the reason that he submitted his resignation last year. He said his wife had been “verbally assaulted” by a resident in a local store.

“And it was amazing how the city stepped up to show support and that it was not going to happen again,” Bagnall said in explaining his decision to withdraw the resignation.

A citizen shared a copy of an email that Bagnall sent to city employees in early July offering a week of “amnesty” from his policy of avoiding comments about the city on social media.

“I am making this decision due to the significant untruths and garbage posted online,” Bagnall wrote, adding that “outright lies” were being spread. He wrote that he would re-evaluate the policy after one week.

Over the past year, Bagnall has sought to refute criticisms in multiple interviews with The Ledger. He has pointed to his record of securing about $30 million in funding for the city, largely through state grants, more than any previous city manager.

When Bagnall gained the promotion to city manager, some residents questioned why he did not hire a new director of the electric department and suggested that he was being paid for doing two jobs. Bagnall rejected that claim and said that he was managing administrative duties while others in the electric department handled technical operations.

“Over the last year and a half or whatnot, like most city managers, there’s some like him and some don’t,” Watts said. “And he’s taken a lot of shots, personally directed at him, that were totally uncalled for. And he's made mistakes along the way, but I don't know anyone that hasn’t made mistakes, especially since this was his first municipal city manager position.”

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Asked if the environment in Fort Meade might discourage candidates from applying for the position, Watts replied, “Well, that has crossed my mind, yes.”

Bagnall has also feuded with other elected officials. During the June 13 City Commission meeting, while discussing Fort Meade’s expected receipt of $6.5 million from Polk County to help build an equestrian center, Bagnall claimed that state Rep. Melony Bell, R-Fort Meade, and County Commissioner Rick Wilson had lobbied city commissioners to fire him. Bell and Wilson disputed that assertion.

Polk County has since withdrawn the offer. In a letter, County Manager Bill Beasley said that Fort Meade had shown that it had “pressing higher municipal priorities.” Bagnall responded, saying that Fort Meade had devoted nearly $300,000 to the project and was still willing to pursue it.

During the discussions, Bagnall had raised concerns about complicating factors and the ultimate cost of building and maintaining the facility. Bell had managed to insert $250,000 into the state budget for the project this year, but Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the appropriation.

Despite all the contentious moments, Bagnall emphasized the positive as he spoke of leaving his position.

“I really feel as though I've accomplished a great deal and set the city on a good glide path for the future,” he said. “One of my main goals in becoming city manager was to be able to fix the electric system, and for that — it's literally night and day, from three years ago until now. It is actually a very well-run electric utility now. I'm going out with my head held high.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade city manager plans to depart after tumultuous two years