NORTH PORT, Fla. — North Port commissioners voted 3-2 on Thursday afternoon to not investigate a human resource complaint against City Manager Jerome Fletcher.
WATCH HUNTER WATERMAN'S BREAK DOWN THE LASTED FROM THE VOTE:
The issue haunted city leaders for months, with the three longest-serving commissioners calling it a distraction and politically motivated.
“We all know what happened on this dais,” Commissioner Phil Stokes said on Thursday. “Nobody is in dispute of the facts.”
Commissioner David Duval filed a complaint against City Manager Jerome Fletcher on Monday. The complaint is focused on a poster and a city policy.
Mayor Pete Emrich, Vice-Mayor Barbara Langdon, and Stokes voted to close the complaint. Commissioner David Duval and Commissioner Demetrius Petrow voted against that motion.
Fletcher admitted to creating a poster of Duval in October.
The top of the poster said, “DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THIS MAN,” in bold red text. Underneath is a photo of Duval and italicized black text that said, “Just walk away…”
Duval first publicly discussed the poster during a Sept. 23 commission meeting, calling it disrespectful. The commissioner said he found it in the city manager’s office after he walked in there for a meeting. But the city manager and other commissioners dispute Duval’s version of events.
Fletcher told FOX 4 the poster is a joke. The city manager said he laughed about it with Duval. Mayor Pete Emrich and Commissioner Phil Stokes said Duval suggested making t-shirts out of the poster.
The city manager said the poster only became an issue weeks later.
“It’s okay for him to change his mind,” Fletcher told FOX 4. “But the question is, and the question I would ask him is, why did you not come back to me the moment you said, this is no longer funny?"
Stokes said the poster was an inside joke among commissioners - until it wasn’t. He acknowledged the poster was in poor taste, but said Duval should have acted sooner.
“I would have taken it off the wall when I saw it in his office I would have ripped it up in pieces and dropped it on his desk, demanded an apology,” Stokes said. “Right there, like a man.”
Duval said the issue is bigger than a poster. The commissioner said Fletcher limits his access to city staff.
Personnel policy 6.8 governs how commissioners can communicate with city staff.
The policy said, "City commissioners are expected to communicate with employees through the City Manager or designee.”
Basically, that means commissioners have to go through Fletcher to speak with city staff.
Duval and Commissioner Demetrius Petrow said the policy limits their access to information. Both commissioners said staff refused to speak with them without Fletcher’s approval.
“You disrespect this office, you’re disrespecting the citizens of this city,” Duval said on Thursday.
Petrow said the communications policy is the bigger issue. He repeatedly pushed to change it, including on Tuesday. Petrow proposed the Charter Review Advisory Board examine if the policy is in line with the city charter.
That motion failed 3-2, along the same lines as Thursday’s vote. The three longest serving commissioners - Stokes, Langdon, and Emrich - all said they have never been denied access to information or employees. All you have to do is ask the city manager.
Both city attorney Michael Fuino and an outside lawyer have said the policy is in line with the city’s charter.
After the Sept. 23 commission meeting, Duval said he was “excommunicated” from the city manager’s office. The commissioner said his one-on-one meetings with Fletcher were moved to the city clerk’s office.
“To me, that is retaliation,” Duval said on Thursday.
Fletcher said the meeting was moved because of Duval’s behavior.
“He surprised all of us on the dais with his picture and his yelling, and his pounding on the dais,” Fletcher said. “And that’s not the kind of behavior we allow up in our office.”
Langdon and Stokes said Duval’s complaint was motivated by a small group of outside critics, something that Duval denies.
Stokes and Langdon were referring to former Commissioner Debbie McDowell, who launched a petition to remove Fletcher from office. McDowell claims that Fletcher was disrespectful to commissioners, including herself.
McDowell and Fletcher’s relationship was stormy from the beginning. McDowell voted against hiring Fletcher in 2021.
“It is a deliberate and systematic attempt by a small group of individuals to defame and damage the reputation of a man who has given his heart and soul to advancing this city,” Langdon said on Thursday.
Public comment was mixed on Thursday. Some people supported Duval’s complaint and accused the city manager of bullying. Others - including several city employees - defended Fletcher.
After the meeting, Fletcher said he just wants to move on.
“I feel like I need to go do my job,” Fletcher said. “You know, this is what they hired me to do.”
ORIGINAL STORY:
City commissioners voted to not move forward with an investigation into the city manager. The vote on Thursday afternoon is the latest chapter in a months-long debate that’s divided the commission.
Commissioners Langdon, Stokes and Emrich voted to not pursue the investigation. Duval and Petrow wanted to move forward with it.
Commissioner Duval filed a human resources complaint against City Manager Jerome Fletcher. Duval claimed that Fletcher created a hostile work environment during an Oct. 28 commission meeting. The accusation centers around personnel policy 6.8.
The policy governs how commissioners can communicate with city staff.
It said, "City commissioners are expected to communicate with employees through the City Manager or designee."
Duval said city employees repeatedly refused to answer his questions without Fletcher's approval.
“I can’t tell you how many nights I’ve woken up at 4:00 o'clock in the morning and I can’t sleep,” Duval said during the October meeting. “Whenever I have a meeting that I have to come to, I don’t sleep. On a day I know I don’t have to go to City Hall, I sleep like a log.”
Duval shared several stories about how it was difficult to get information.
He said commissioners considered whether to replace two Public Works trailers after he was first elected in 2024. One trailer was significantly more expensive than the other, Duval said.
So, Duval stopped by the Public Works facility. The commissioner said he asked city staff where the trailers were. Duval said he had a conversation with Fletcher shortly after.
“The city manager said to me, ‘we don’t allow the public in those areas,' " Duval said. “I didn’t say anything, but in my head I had this thought. I am not the public. I am an elected official of this city and it’s up to me to know as much as I can about the decisions I have to make.”
Fletcher previously told FOX 4 that he's just following the city's charter.
"As an employee of [the commissioners], and I work for them, I don't believe I can provide a hostile work environment for them," Fletcher said in October. "But that's what was said.”
"The Charter’s non-interference clause is a lawful and essential limitation designed to protect professional administration, prevent the erosion of the council- manager system, and maintain clarity of accountability and chain of command," Day wrote.
The three longest-serving city commissioners defended both Fletcher and the policy. Mayor Pete Emrich, Vice-Mayor Barbara Langdon, and Commissioner Phil Stokes said Fletcher never denied them access to information or staff.
"In the three-and-a-half years I've been on this commission, I have never been denied access to anybody, or any information," Commissioner Phil Stokes said on Tuesday. "All I needed to do was alert city manager.”
"It's been consistent throughout the seven years that I've been here," Mayor Pete Emrich said. "And it's called respect. I always went to the city manager if I had to talk with staff.”
Fletcher said the policy is designed to give commissioners the most accurate information possible. It also protects employees from political pressure, Fletcher said.
"If you have political figures guiding or having their hand in day-to-day operations, everyone would go to them with every single thing," Fletcher said on Tuesday. "And they would not be able to make the right decisions with the right information."
Fletcher also created a poster of Duval that's generated some attention. Duval said he walked into the city manager's office for a meeting when he noticed a piece of paper on the wall.
The top of the page said, "DO NOT ENGAGE WITH THIS MAN," in bold red text. Underneath a photo of Duval is italicized black text that said, "Just walk away…."
Duval provided FOX 4 with a copy of the poster in October.
Fletcher said the poster was a joke. He said Duval never complained about it until a Sept. 23 commission meeting. Fletcher publicly apologized for the poster during Tuesday's meeting.
"Never meant, and never would mean to harm his feelings at all," Fletcher told FOX 4.
