Second of two parts
Fruitland Park City Manager Ralph Bowers offered his resignation — with conditions — last week as Lake County sheriff's detectives opened an investigation into whether he committed some kind of sex crime against an employee he supervised.
He wants the benefits to which he's entitled under his contract if he is fired "without cause." That means $14,450 in severance and his unused vacation time. He also wants the city to let him collect unemployment compensation without a challenge.
If the city just waits a week or so until the Lake County Sheriff's Office finishes its investigation into what started as a sexual-harassment complaint, perhaps Fruitland Park commissioners will have reason to fire Bowers "with cause," which would save taxpayers some money. They may not need to pay the 73-year-old city manager to go away.
The commissioners also should send their police chief down the road. For starters, Chief Terry Isaacs deviated from standard operation and failed to write a police report documenting the complaint against Bowers by the female employee. That kept the specifics of the complaint from becoming public.
Then, on Friday, the chief made a spectacle of himself.
Isaacs, who was hired by Bowers, was standing early Friday beside County Road 466A at North Dixie Avenue in uniform waving a hand-lettered sign denouncing Commissioner Jim Richardson, who is in a runoff election Tuesday. Isaacs' police vehicle was parked by the side of the road with the emergency lights flashing.
At the same time, a news release that was more of a diatribe filled with unsubstantiated allegations against Richardson was sent from the Police Department to media across Central Florida.
Richardson's lawyer, Derek Schroth, demanded that the chief stop campaigning in uniform, and by 10:30 a.m., the city's attorney had sent word that Isaacs should cease his protest immediately.
Schroth said he believes Isaacs violated several laws, including those forbidding misuse of public position and misuse of privileged information.
Meanwhile, Richardson was at the Lake County Sheriff's Office filing a harassment complaint about both Isaacs and Bowers. Shortly afterward, he requested that the commission meet in special session to discuss firing the pair.
Does it ever end? It could. But it would take maturity that so far has not been displayed in Fruitland Park.
During the June 14 commission meeting, Richardson accused the city manager of having an improper relationship with a female employee and warned that Fruitland Park could be open to liability.
That sounds like a bizarre thing to do in a public forum, but consider the backdrop: The relationship between Richardson and the other commissioners is broken. His every idea or concern is summarily dismissed by them.
Still, when a commissioner raises an issue so serious, residents have the right to expect that the others will pay attention and take appropriate action. The right thing would have been to direct City Attorney Scott Gerken to look into the matter. They didn't. Even this public accusation produced only grousing from one other commissioner about why Richardson gets all these tips and nobody else does.
Really? That's the official reaction? No elected official voiced the least concern for the city having to pay out for a sexual-harassment complaint, as did the city of Jasper, where Bowers previously worked. The commissioners' failure to take a colleague's concern seriously is irresponsible at best, and in the end it could cost Fruitland Park considerable cash.
Even on Friday, instead of worrying about the police chief's behavior, Gerken was trying to figure out whom Richardson might have talked with about the female employee's complaint against Bowers.
It's time for this nonsense to stop.
"The city of Fruitland Park continues to retaliate against Mr. Richardson for exposing inappropriate behavior by city officials," Schroth wrote to Gerken in an email sent Friday morning. "He would like city officials to just do their jobs and stop falsely attacking him."
If Fruitland Park were a computer, this would be the time to reboot.
Commissioners should start fresh with a new city manager and a new chief, regardless of the outcome of Tuesday's election. They should throw a wide net to get as many applications as possible and then do a thorough background check on the candidates, something that apparently didn't happen when they hired Bowers in 2006. The process should be fair and open, and most important, it should include citizens.
But the biggest change needed in Fruitland Park is a change in attitude. Regardless of how annoying one or another commissioner may be, these five were selected to work together for the good of the city, and the only way that can be accomplished is if they respect one another. Or at least act like it.
How simple a solution. But how hard for Fruitland Park.
Lritchie@tribune.com. Her blog is at OrlandoSentinel.com/laurenonlake. Lauren invites you to connect with her on Facebook at facebook.com/laurenonlake.
