Why did Lake Worth Beach fire its city manager and what happens next?

When Lake Worth Beach commissioners fired City Manager Carmen Davis in December by a narrow 3-2 vote, it prompted some key questions about the city's future.

For one: Who will serve as the city’s next long-term leader?

Jamie Brown, Lake Worth Beach's public works director, was named interim city manager until a search for a permanent manager is completed, and it's unclear if he plans to apply for the position.

Brown has served Lake Worth Beach for more than a decade in the public works director role, overseeing waste management and the maintenance of city buildings, roads, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds.

He also worked recently as the interim assistant city manager, before the recent hiring of Troy Perry, who now holds the position.

"I've been here at the city almost 13 years now," Brown said, addressing commissioners and accepting the interim city manager position. "Obviously, over the time, I've fallen in love with the city, the residents here, the business owners here."

Brown's interim city manager contract affords him an annual salary of $212,180 — the same salary as his predecessor.

Here are some other key questions to consider as the city transitions between managers:

How long before Lake Worth Beach finds its next city manager?

Commissioners are expected to decide this month on whether to issue a request for proposal, or RFP, the first step toward hiring a search firm that can help the city identify a new long-term city manager.

The process is expected to take anywhere from five to eight months before the new city manager starts. That includes the time it takes to issue an RFP and accept responses from potential search firms before hiring one, followed by the lengthy process of finding applicants and choosing a finalist.

At least one commissioner is less than eager to go through that process, at least for now. Vice Mayor Christopher McVoy said during a meeting last month that he would prefer to "keep steady the course" for a while.

“I have no idea what the preference of my colleagues is," he said. "I am not in a huge hurry to go out and search again. It’s a long and slow process."

Why is the city manager job so important?

The city manager reports to Lake Worth Beach's five-member commission and oversees all of the city's employees and priorities.

Unlike a typical job, the city manager's contract makes it clear that supervising the city is a job that "often exceeds 40 hours per week," and that the manager "will devote a great deal of time outside normal office hours to business of the city."

That includes appointing and removing city employees, directing and supervising all city departments, attending all commission meetings, preparing detailed year-end reports, submitting a balanced annual budget and constantly staying in touch with commissioners to provide updates and talk about goals.

Why did Lake Worth Beach Commissioners fire Carmen Davis?

As for Davis, the commission voted 3-2 to fire her last month during a special meeting on her performance evaluations.

In a self-evaluation, Davis gave herself an overall score of 4.3 out of 5 — one step above "satisfactory" and one step below "outstanding," according to the city's evaluation tool.

Davis said she guided city staff to carry out the commission's priorities, creating "positive communication, transparency, and ongoing feedback." The former city manager also said she navigated complex and often controversial issues with a cool head, and that she developed relationships with local residents and businesses.

Among the top accomplishments she listed: negotiating the restoration of the historic Gulfstream Hotel, starting a Strategic Priorities Plan, leading the first redistricting process in the city's history and helping to allocate $19 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

More: Redo of historic Gulfstream Hotel begins. What did developers find when they started work?

"I am a visionary/servant leader who is passionate about serving the LWB community and believes in its future," Davis wrote in her evaluation. "I take great pride in my work. My professional recommendations and thoughts are given in a respectful, fair, and transparent manner."

She found support in Mayor Betty Resch and Commissioner Sarah Malega. They said Davis was a transparent leader, skilled problem solver, effective communicator and involved community member. They also commended Davis for making the annual budget process more efficient and easy to understand, and for making positive changes in the Finance Department, including a change in the department's leadership.

And she did so after moving to Florida from another state, beginning a new job during the COVID-19 pandemic and joining a city that was evolving and experiencing growing pains, Resch and Malega said.

"Lake Worth Beach is not an easy city to manage," the mayor wrote in her evaluation of Davis. "I'm sure she feels at times like she is herding cats! She is consistently professional and calm (even in the face of being disrespected in public and behind closed doors). She is a good listener. She is fair and balanced in her approach to things that come her way."

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But the reviews by Vice Mayor McVoy and Commissioners Reinaldo Diaz and Kim Stokes tell a different story. They said the city manager sometimes took action without first getting consensus from the commission, and, alternatively, that she never carried out certain commission-approved ideas.

They said Davis was often silent at commission meetings, and that her reports lacked detail. McVoy said in his review of the city manager that a "severe lack of timely, proactive communication of factual information has deepened chasms in the community."

They said serious matters often came to their attention via the news or community members, not from the city manager. Stokes also expressed frustration that Davis' performance evaluation — an annual requirement in her contract — never happened at the end of her first year, despite repeated pushing from Stokes.

“I no longer have faith or confidence in our city manager,” Stokes said during the Dec. 11 meeting, just before making the motion to fire Davis. That motion passed with support from McVoy and Diaz.

How much severance pay is Davis entitled to after her termination?

Because the commission fired her without cause, Davis' contract entitles her to 20 weeks of severance pay, plus payment for any unused vacation time. But there's a catch.

Davis, according to her contract, would have to sign a Separation Agreement and General Release, allowing her to collect the severance pay and forgoing her right to sue the city. The other possibility is that Davis takes her former employer to court.

"I don't want you to think that you can terminate and guarantee she's going to take the 20 weeks and go quietly into the night,'" City Attorney Glen Torcivia said during a commission meeting. "She could. I hope she does, from a lawyer's standpoint. But the other option is always a lawsuit."

According to the city's interim manager, the separation agreement was sent to Davis on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and she has until Jan. 23 to make a decision. She had not returned the agreement as of Wednesday afternoon.

Giuseppe Sabella is a reporter covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at gsabella@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism and subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Questions remain after firing of Lake Worth Beach's city manager