Mexico Beach, Florida (WMBB) – “Jerry made a motion to terminate, is there a second?” said Mayor Richard Wolff of Mexico.
“I mean…I’m second,” Jason Adams said.
At the April 23 meeting, Mexican Beach City Council members voted 4-1 to Fire City Chief Executive Chris Truitt.
Truitt was investigated for alleged harassment of city employees.
But that's not why he was fired.
Truitt issued two temporary supplier licenses that allow ice cream and chairs to be sold on the beach for rent.
Council members said they had told Truit before that they did not want suppliers to bother people on the beach.
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Council member Erik Fosshage said: “Absolutely don’t want Panama City Beach, we definitely don’t want all kinds of things we see on other beaches.
The next day, on April 24, Krizner Group conducted an investigation report on Truitt's behavior.
Investigators found Truitt should face disciplinary action and receive other training, but did not recommend him to fire.
The report also recommends that municipal officials have revised their staff manuals, conduct annual training and study procedures for harassment and investigation of complaints.
Council members knew they would receive reports the day after Truitt fired, but said it had nothing to do with the beach's allowance.
“HR is investigating other allegations and complaints, not what happened after that, and it is really a separate issue,” the city's attorney said.
The Council held a special meeting on April 25, and they agreed to hire Smigielski as interim city administrator.
In an interview with Smigielski on Wednesday, we didn't know about Truitt's firing, or the report was completed.
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News 13 asked Truitt if he wanted to fire, would he be permanently interested in the job? He said no.
“I've been retired for a few years, so I need to go back and chase my grandson,” Smigielski said.
But he didn't tell us that Truit was gone.
Smigielski called that Thursday morning and asked us to change the story.
When we asked him for another interview, he refused. Mayor Richard Wolff also said he was concerned about the public's perception of Truitt's sack, even in a public meeting.
Smigielski told us he plans to be a temporary city administrator for about three months, and the city is probably looking for a permanent replacement.
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