Train wreck in slow motion

Sitting in the audience of the Brooksville City Council meeting last night can only be described watching as train wreck in slow motion. The last agenda item on the schedule was labeled "City Manager Search Process" presented by Richard Anderson. Mr. Anderson gave a brief presentation on suggested methods for undertaking a search for his replacement as city manager. Councilwoman Bradburn made a motion to use the services of the Human Resources offices of the Hernando County Government and Swiftmud along with the city's HR director. This motion by Ms. Bradburn lacked any real substance and had to be refined by the city clerk so the staff had a clear idea on how to proceed with a search for a new city manager.

Frankie Burnett was the only council member that came to the meeting with some concrete ideas on how the next manager should be narrowed down from the applicants. Mr. Burnett managed to convince his fellow council members to appoint a five member committee to refine the search from a list provided by the Human Resource Directors to present to council.

This agenda item then took a strange twist with the discussion that ensued between the council members. Several motions were made to place additional items on the agenda even though they had not been publicly advertised in the newspaper. Council Richard Lewis attempted to retain Richard Anderson until a new manager could be chosen by council. Councilman Burnett seconded Mr. Lewis' motion but it died with a 3-2 vote to deny, with council members Bradburn, Bernardini and Pugh voting nay.

Councilman Bernardini then suggested that Richard Anderson be fired immediately but was counseled by their attorney about the pitfalls of immediate termination of the city manager. The city attorney advised that 30 days severance pay would accompany this method. Mr. Bernardini then made a motion to have Mr. Anderson put on administrative leave until his resignation date. This motion was placed on the agenda by the

second of Ms. Bradburn and received the third vote for a majority by Mr. Pugh, to seal Mr. Anderson's fate with the city. Needless to say, once this item was on the agenda, Mr. Pugh, Ms. Bradburn and Mr. Bernardini voted to have Mr. Anderson placed on administrative leave until his resignation becomes effective on February 8th.

At the conclusion of the meeting, directly after citizens input, Mayor David Pugh took the opportunity to throw a few jabs at his critics in the audience. Time will only tell how long it will take for the city to heal with this controversy...