PAHOKEE – The City of Pahokee Commission started their Aug. 24 meeting with a prayer for a healing. Apparently, that prayer was not answered as the meeting quickly devolved into shouting matches, accusations and chaos. By the end of the meeting, the commission had voted 3-2 to pursue the legal case against former city manager Chandler Williamson in regard to his questionable use of city funds.

Mayor Keith Babb started the meeting by complaining the mayor’s report had been removed from the agenda.

“As mayor, you have no more authority than any other commissioner,” said City Attorney Gary Brandenburg. He said the mayor can speak just as any other commissioner can report at a meeting. The mayor accused Brandenburg of trying to silence him. Brandenburg said he had no objection to putting the mayor’s report back on the agenda.

Vice Mayor Regina Bohlen noted they had a long agenda. She suggested if they don’t finish the agenda Tuesday night, they should come back and finish at 10 a.m. the next morning. Perez second the motion and it passed 3-2 with Babb and Commissioner Clara Murvin in opposition.

Interim city manager Greg Thompson, who was hired at the Aug. 19 meeting, asked to add a resolution to the agenda about hiring of a new IT company.

The city attorney said there were three other items that needed to be added –– discussion of a lawsuit over attorney fees, discussion of payment of $67,000 to former city manager Chandler Williamson for his unused leave time, and a review of the city’s insurance policies.

“If the city manager brings forth an item he wants to add to the agenda, it will be added,” said Babb. Thompson said he was not yet up to speed on the three items and asked to let the city attorney explain them. The mayor refused to let the attorney explain the three items.

Brandenburg reminded other commissioners they could override the mayor with three votes.

Bohlen made a motion to allow the attorney to explain the three additional agenda items. Perez seconded the motion.

The meeting then erupted in shouting from the audience, with one man accusing Perez of being drunk, and the Perez threatening to sue him for slander.

“Mayor, you can’t ignore a motion and second,” said the attorney.

“The citizens of Pahokee deserve better than this,” said the city manager. “Let’s take care of the business. You have a motion and a second on the floor.”

“You running the meeting?” said the mayor.

“Somebody has to,” said the city manager.

“This is ridiculous, call for a vote,” said Bohlen.

When the mayor refused to call for a vote on the motion, Brandenburg advised the commissioners they could go ahead and vote anyway. Bohlen, Perez and Commissioner Juan Gonzalez voting in favor.

The mayor refused to listen to the information about three additional items to be added to the agenda, and instead called for public comments.

In other business, the commission heard the first reading of a change to the resolution 2019-02 which relates to how city meetings are conducted.

“We have a gag order according to this 2019-02 resolution,” said Perez.

The ordinance states: “Any comments or questions by the attending public shall be directed to the mayor or presiding officer. Members of the city commission shall direct all comments and questions on the subject matter being discussed to the mayor or presiding officer and shall not engage in cross conversations with other members of the public or direct any questions to other members of the city commission or the public.”

The resolution also limits meetings to no more than two and half hours in length. It states: “All regularly scheduled meetings of city commission shall begin no later than 6:30 p.m. and shall end no later than 9 p.m. Any items remaining on the agenda shall be placed under old business for the next city agenda.” Some city residents have complained the time limit has made it difficult to get city business done because a long debate over one item may run out the clock.

Bohlen said before ordinance 2019-02 was enacted “the meetings ran just fine. That ordinance said we could not talk unless the mayor let us talk.

“It’s my opinion, it’s a bad ordinance,” said Bohlen.

Amid shouts from the audience, Brandenburg noted it was just the first reading and the item will be on the agenda for a vote at the next meeting.

In other business, the commission passed resolution 2021-17, which authorizes the mayor and city manager to execute a Community Development Block Grant agreement. Code enforcement is partially paid by the CDBG grant.

Commissioners also voted 3-2 to hire PC Network Solutions to provide IT services to the city for the next 12 months. Babb and Murvin voted against the motion.

“We had an emergency situation where we had to hire this company to get into our own system and make payroll,” explained the city manager. “The prior company would not release the information, he claimed.

“Without it, the city couldn’t conduct business,” he added.

“The former IT was cooperating with Mr. Brandenburg to provide the information, but I learned Mr. Brandenburg was so rude to this individual, he refused to move forward,” said the mayor.

Babb added there is an email that states the former IT contractor Mark Liskay turned over information “to the mayor,” but claimed that he never received the information.

Brandenburg said Liskay said he sent the information to the mayor and to the city clerk. He said the city clerk did not receive the pass codes to get into the computers. The mayor said he also did not receive the codes.

Murvin said because Brandenburg was rude to Liskay, Liskay quit.

Later in the meeting, Brandenburg also suggested the city hold someone responsible for the extra cost incurred because the former IT company did not turn over access to the city’s computer system and website.

“Either Mark Liskay is lying about handing over the codes to you, or you are lying,” Brandenburg told the mayor.

“I have received no codes through email or personally from Mark,” said the mayor.

“It’s costing us $20,000 to get those codes. Why aren’t you holding him responsible?” asked Brandenburg.

The commission voted 3-2 to hold Liskay responsible for the $20,000 expenditure. Babb and Murvin voted against the motion.

In other business, the city commission voted unanimously to hire a licensed inspector to inspect the city building at 115 East Main Street. “The roof has caved in on 115 East Main Street,” said Brandenburg. “The building should be condemned. I am recommending you close that building and change the locks.”

The commission also discussed payment of employees who did not work during the state of emergency called by the mayor.

“You have adopted three so-called states of emergency which are invalid on their face,” said Brandenburg. “There were no issues in the City of Pahokee. All the children went to school. What you did do, was you caused city employees to stay home for three days.”

The mayor said some employees did work from home and others such as Parks & Recreation staff continued to work. The mayor said he had the authority to call the state of emergency. “We had heightened tension in the community,” he said. He said there were numerous comments about tension on Facebook.

Another topic of contention was the cost of changing the locks on city hall after the departure of the previous city manager.

Brandenburg suggested the city hold the former interim city manager Rodney Lucas responsible for the cost of rekeying the locks at city hall. He said the cost was about $2,500. The mayor said such an action would cause the city to be sued.

“The rightful management of the city asked the former manager for the keys to city hall. Not only did the manager not give us the keys to city hall, he went around and made sure that every office inside the city hall was locked. And he had those keys with him. I asked him to give us those keys and if he did not give them back, I would ask the commission to hold him responsible,” explained Brandenburg. “A day later or two days later, he showed up and gave the vice mayor the keys to his vehicle. If he had not done that, we would have had to have the vehicle towed and rekeyed. All of the cost of that should not be borne by the citizens of Pahokee.

Mayor Babb said they would have changed the locks anyway. “When we have a city manager leave, what do we do? Even if he turns in the keys, we change the locks on city hall,” said the mayor.

“So we were just going to leave the city employees standing outside in the sun while someone came in from Belle Glade to rekey it?” asked Brandenburg? “Do you think that was an appropriate act for the mayor and the city manager?”

“I have never told anyone what to do,” said the mayor.

The motion failed 2-3 with Perez and Bohlen voting for it.

Murvin said the city attorney had been seen taking a box from city hall. She asked what files Brandenburg recently removed. He said the box included paperwork of city ordinances. “The code of ordinances has not been updated in two and a half years,” said Bradenburg.

He said the box also included “an invoice from your city engineer for more than $400,000 for services that were supposedly rendered from 2017 to today.” He said he has a lot of questions for the engineer.

In other business, Brandenburg suggested increasing the salary for City Clerk Tijuana Warner from $62,500 to $72,000.

Brandenburg said Warner previously quit because the former city manager (Williamson) was pressuring her to advertise meetings for the wrong day or not advertise special meetings properly. “She said ‘I’ve had enough of this. I’m not going to do it,’ and she quit,” said Brandenburg.

He said Warner agreed to come back and help bail the city out. She returned at her former rate of pay but requested an increase to $75,000. He asked the commission to consider what would be a fair salary for her moving forward, “considering she came in and bailed the city out when you didn’t have a clerk and made no attempt of hiring one when the position was empty, and her brother died of covid but she still showed up and bailed the city out.”

Warner said the filings and the deeds for the cemetery are now two years behind.

“I work overtime every week. I do not get paid overtime,” she said. “I did accept this job but I request this salary because I need to be compensated for my time and everything that I have to do.”

“In my short time here working with her, I think she is worth every bit of $72,000,” said the city manager. “If we hope to retain a qualified city clerk, I think we should pay her.”

Perez asked if it would be better to get the clerk some help.

“She’s asking for a small raise. If we get her additional help, it’s going to cost double or triple that,” said the city manager. “If she does leave, to recruit somebody, especially after watching these meetings, a clerk would be insane to apply here.”

The mayor suggested they give her a modest increase and in the budget try to find the money that she is requesting.

“We’re short staffed right now. We are short a finance director,” said the city manager. Warner is taking on additional duties, he explained.

The motion to pay the clerk $72,000 a year passed 3-2 with Babb and Murvin voting against it.

At Brandenburg’s suggestion, the commission also voted to move forward with legal action against former city manager Chandler Williamson.

Brandenburg said in 2018, Williamson improperly authorized a check to Technomarine for $150,000. He said they also found out he improperly signed a $1.2 million contract on behalf of the city.

Inspector General John Carey’s audit of Pahokee, released to the public Feb. 11, 2020, criticized Williamson for violating a state grant agreement by authorizing a $150,000 city check to Technomarine Construction in 2018 for work on the Pahokee Marina that had not yet been completed. The work was never done. In April 2018, less than two months after the check was issued, the City of Pahokee fired Technomarine, but was unable to recoup $125,000.

The inspector general report found from June 2015 to May 2019, the city manager inappropriately used the city’s credit card for items not related to city business. (About $5,000 in expenses was later reimbursed to the city by Williamson.) They identified another $15,949 that were questionable costs that the mayor nor anyone on the commission did anything to clarify, said Brandenburg.

He said the state attorney’s office was looking very carefully at these in order to determine whether or not to charge Williamson with a crime, but got no support from the city commission at the time.

“Do you think the city as a matter of good management should go after Chandler Williamson for that $15,000 for unauthorized costs?” said Brandenburg. “We’re not talking about criminal charges. We’re talking about civil. The statute of limitations has not run out.”

“At some point you have to let things go,” said the mayor.

Bohlen made a motion that the city attempt to recoup the money.

“I personally called the inspector general last month,” said Gonzalez. “I was told the last report had enough to go forward with charges. He said he was told Mayor Babb indicated the city did not want to go forward with the investigation. The mayor denied every having such a conversation with state officials.

The motion to pursue legal action against Williamson passed 3-2 with Murvin and Babb voting against it.