2 more top staff leave Tampa’s transportation team

Two more senior staff members have resigned from city of Tampa’s mobility department, records show.

The department, in charge of the future of city streets, has been praised by Mayor Jane Castor as a core component of her vision to unlock more of downtown for reinvestment but has witnessed high-profile exits and allegations of a hostile workplace in recent weeks.

Brandie Miklus resigned from her “dream job” as Tampa’s infrastructure and mobility program coordinator last week, she told the Tampa Bay Times. Miklus, who joined the city in November 2020, said it had been “an honor” to serve as the department’s primary communications staffer.

“However, over the last several months, and increasingly over the last few weeks, I am disappointed to say that I have lost confidence in the direction of the Mobility Department,” she wrote in a resignation letter submitted July 4 and reviewed by the Times. “This, combined with a lack of internal communication, has made it impossible for me to continue telling Tampa’s transportation story in good faith.”

Her last day was Tuesday, she said.

Chief Production Engineer Lara Bouck is also resigning, according to records reviewed by the Times.

“My decision to leave the City was a hard one given the high regard I have for the team of people I’ve been working with; but I feel confident that I am making the best decision to support my family,” she wrote in her resignation letter, dated July 11.

Her last day is Aug. 1. She did not respond to a request for comment by phone early Wednesday afternoon.

The departures come as the department is gearing up for the public unveiling of the citywide mobility plan known as Tampa M.O.V.E.S. next week. The plan, more than two years in the making, is pitched as a road map to improve and expand transportation around the city.

Tampa, Florida’s third-largest city, continues to grapple with bare-bones public transit and a poor track record of pedestrian and bicycle safety. The mobility department consists of five divisions: parking, operations, smart mobility, stormwater engineering and transportation engineering.

Miklus and Bouck’s resignations arrive on the heels of two other high-profile exits from the department — including a staff member who filed a grievance alleging gender discrimination and a hostile work environment that undermines efforts to fulfill the mayor’s plans.

“None of these employees ever said a word about any problem or concern with the department until now,” City Communications Director Adam Smith told the Times. “They did good work for Tampa and we wish them all the best.”

Department director Vik Bhide and administrator Jean Duncan alerted transportation engineering manager Danni Jorgenson of her dismissal June 2, the Times previously reported. Chief planner Alana Brasier submitted her resignation two weeks later.

“I was terminated because of my gender,” Jorgenson wrote in a grievance letter June 7, reviewed by the Times.

Bhide repeatedly told Jorgenson to keep her opinions to herself, according to the letter, and “continually chided” women in his office for occasionally taking advantage of remote work for child care reasons. He also fabricated a citywide policy that prohibited employees from working from home, she wrote.

In addition to her grievance with the city, Jorgenson has filed complaints based on gender and familial status with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Human Relations.

Bhide has worked for the city for about a decade and in May, the City Council approved his renomination as a department head.

Bhide previously declined to comment on Jorgenson’s dismissal and allegations last week because of the possibility of litigation.

“Mayor Castor has confidence in Jean Duncan, Vik Bhide, and the entire, outstanding mobility team,” Smith said, adding that the city has reviewed the allegations.