Winter Park commissioners narrowly vote to keep Todd Weaver, after ‘stepping down’ email
Winter Park City Commissioner Todd Weaver will remain in office after his colleagues narrowly voted in his favor that an email he sent entitled “stepping down” was not a formal resignation.
After about a 90-minute discussion, they voted 3-2 in favor of keeping Weaver on the dais, with Weaver along with commissioners Marty Sullivan and Kris Cruzada voting the email didn’t meet the standard of a resignation. Mayor Phil Anderson and Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio voted that it was.
Weaver, who appeared remotely at Wednesday’s special meeting, apologized for being the cause of it and said the Feb. 3 email was sent amid a “troubling time” for him.
“It was like the imperfect storm. I had been sleep deprived and got some new duties and things hadn’t gone as I had hoped on the commission that week, and I was just plain worn out. I should have given it a little bit more time before I hit the send button,” he said. “It wasn’t a resignation letter; it was just a courtesy to any employer that any of you have had.”
He continued, “It was just a stupidity move on my part and I should have thought it out a little bit more. I’ve made some changes ... following the email.”
In the email and in an interview later Feb. 3 with the Orlando Sentinel, Weaver said he was struggling to balance personal and professional obligations with his responsibilities as a city commissioner.
The email sparked confusion from fellow elected officials and others in the community.
For example, the same day as Weaver’s email, Betsy Gardner Eckbert, the president of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, wrote commissioners suggesting they appoint an African American person to fill the vacancy, noting it had been “an unacceptable 130 years since a Black person has served on the Winter Park City Commission and you now have a perfect opportunity to correct that inequity.”
Residents who spoke in public comment Wednesday were divided on the issue as well.
Weaver was first elected in 2019 and reelected to a three-year term in 2022. He participated in the regularly scheduled meeting of the city commission last week, as well as in the special meeting Wednesday.
The debate among commissioners centered on whether the email was a resignation and, if it was, whether it was effective immediately.
It also included an opinion sent by employment attorney Benton Wood, who said he thought the email was intended as a resignation, effective immediately. Though Wood also said it’d be up to the commission whether Weaver stayed on.
Cruzada said Weaver’s email was ambiguous and left him questioning what he was trying to say. Cruzada said because it wasn’t clear, they shouldn’t infer.
“The email itself was very ambiguous to me,” he said. “If we, as a commission have to infer, we’re on a very slippery slope.”
Sullivan, who voted in favor of keeping Weaver on the board, said he thought a vote to oust him would be negating the will of the voters.
DeCiccio said her vote wasn’t personal, but as a lawyer she thought Wood’s opinion and the city charter were clear.
“We’re guided by the charter,” she said. “We don’t have a choice in this; the charter is very clear.”
In retaining his seat, Weaver has two more years left of his term.
