Fort Meade picks a new interim city manager, it's fourth manager since August

Fort Meade has its fourth city leader in six months.

The City Commission voted last week to appoint Dustin Burke as interim city manager. He is the third person to hold that title since Jan Bagnall resigned as city manager in August.

Under the city charter, Burke may occupy the position for up to five months.

Bagnall, whose tenure included an unprecedented attainment of state grants but also drew persistent criticism from a faction of residents, resigned after 2½ years in the role. Assistant City Manager Maria Sutherland took over as interim city manager, but the city charter only allowed her to serve five months, a period ending Jan. 21.

It appeared that Fort Meade had hired a replacement in December. After narrowing a list of candidates to two finalists, the City Commission offered the job to Pat Oman of Minnesota. Oman indicated that he had accepted the offer, but at the Jan. 9 meeting, commissioners expressed dismay that Oman had not yet signed a contract. He cited difficulties in securing a home in Fort Meade.

The commission voted 3-2 to rescind the offer to Oman, as newly elected members Samuel Berrien and Jaret Williams joined Mayor Petrina McCutchen in the majority.

With the end of Sutherland’s allowed interim period approaching, the commission considered possibilities for interim managers. Berrien suggested Greg King, a Fort Meade native who has held government roles in South Florida.

When it emerged that King and Williams are first cousins, Fort Meade’s city attorney at the time, Chris Berg, determined that a state law would bar the commission from appointing King to the job. The law prohibits a public official from appointing or employing a relative in a position over which the official has authority.

At the same meeting, Berrien raised the prospect of appointing Burke as a temporary city manager. That led to questions about another potential conflict of interest, as Burke disclosed that Fort Meade Fire Chief Matt Zahara is his brother-in-law.

Berg said that the state statute was not relevant but pointed to the city’s personnel policies, which forbid an employee from supervising a relative.

Change in legal counsel

With Burke seemingly excluded, the City Commission voted 3-1 at its Jan. 18 meeting to appoint Tommy King (no relation to Greg) as a temporary city manager. Commissioner James Watts voted against the hiring, and Commissioner James “Possum” Schaill was absent.

King, director of the city’s water and wastewater department, agreed to an appointment of two weeks.

Meanwhile, commissioners decided at the same meeting to make a change in legal representation. Williams, who ousted longtime Commissioner Bob Elliott in the November election, said he had “concerns regarding our legal services.” The city had contracted with GrayRobinson for more than a decade, with Berg taking over about a year ago for longtime City Attorney Tom Cloud.

McCutchen said she had not been kept informed on relevant issues dating to Cloud’s time in the position. Berrien said he did not think Berg had communicated well with commissioners during the negotiations with Oman, which he handled. Watts, though, said he was “totally satisfied” with the lawyers from GrayRobinson.

Berg, after saying he had been unaware of the commissioners’ complaints, agreed that he would submit a letter of resignation.

At the same meeting, McCutchen welcomed a presentation from an attorney with Austin, Pamies, Norris, Weeks and Powell, a Fort Lauderdale law firm. Williams motioned to offer a contract to the firm, which specializes in government representation. The commission voted 3-1 to do so, with Watts opposing.

At their Feb. 21 meeting, Berrien addressed the issue that arose at the previous meeting, Burke’s family connection to the fire chief. He said that both Berg and new City Attorney Norman Powell determined that a prohibition in the employee guidelines against city workers supervising relatives did not apply to the city manager as a contract employee.

Burke, 43, had applied for the position after Bagnall’s resignation but had not made the list of eight candidates chosen by commissioners for consideration. Burke has filed numerous public records requests with the city, seeking details about the sale of a city-owned mobile home park and questioning the city’s compliance with state public-records laws.

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During that meeting, Berrien said that “chatter and gossip” about Burke's background had emerged. He said the city conducted a background check on Burke.

“All of the chatter and gossip was not true,” Berrien said. “It was just that — chatter and gossip. And it's unfair that adults behave in such a way that they will allow lies to drive their decisions.”

Records indicate that Burke has no criminal convictions in Polk County, and The Ledger found none from any other counties. Court records show that Burke was the subject of multiple petitions for protective injunctions in 2017, but judges dismissed those requests.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to appoint Burke, with Watts and Schaill opposing. His contract provides pay equating to an annual salary of $84,000.

No plans for shakeup

“I'm excited to be here,” Burke said in an interview this week. “I think Fort Meade has got great potential. I think with the growth coming, that we can do it smartly and hopefully keep the small town feel while again managing that growth in a smart way that protects the heritage that Fort Meade loves.”

McCutchen, who was appointed as mayor in January after five years on the commission, also confronted rumors that have circulated in Fort Meade for months that she, Berrien and Williams would hire a city manager with instructions to fire current staff members seen as aligned with Bagnall.

At the Jan. 18 meeting, McCutchen said she would be “a fool” to direct a newly hired city manager to come in and fire employees.

“That makes no sense,” she said. “That is my not my objective — never has been, and it never will be. So you have my word, that is not a directive I would give an incoming city manager, and if I did they probably wouldn’t take the job.”

During discussions of potential interim city managers at previous meetings, some commissioners had raised the prospect of limiting the official’s authority to fire employees. But the commission appointed Burke with no such restrictions.

Burke said he has no plans to dismiss employees.

“There’s no agenda to come in and overhaul the staff at all,” he said. “I'm here just to give the staff the tools that they need to provide the best service for the residents. And there's been no directives by any commissioners to make any moves with staff.”

Burke posted an open letter on a public Facebook page dedicated to Fort Meade. He promised transparency, including online dashboards detailing budget allocations and monthly summaries of city actions, and said he welcomed citizen input.

Burke said he has lived in Fort Meade for about a year but has family connections to the city going back two decades. He said he previously worked as an executive at a home lending company in St. Petersburg. State business records list Burke as a registered agent for several companies, almost all of them now inactive.

The interim city manager said he would like to be considered for a permanent position.

“That's obviously what I'm working for,” he said. “I'd love to just be able to, to maintain a position and serve the city in some capacity, whether as the city manager or otherwise. So, I mean, the title doesn't matter as much as just being able to do good and give back.”

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

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade's new interim city manager is fourth leader since August