Fort Meade rescinds offer to city manager candidate. Nepotism stalls search for interim
Fort Meade does not have a new city manager after all.
In a signal that a new, three-member block now prevails, the City Commission voted 3-2 Tuesday night to rescind a job offer to Pat Oman of Minnesota. With a different composition, the board had voted 4-0 on Dec. 21 to approve a contract proposal for Oman, the county administrator for Becker County in Minnesota.
Jaret Williams, participating in his first meeting after being sworn into office at its outset, joined Commissioners Petrina McCutchen and Samuel Berrien in voting to revoke the offer to Oman. Both Williams and Berrien won election in November, while McCutchen, a commissioner since 2019, had sometimes been in the minority on crucial votes in the board’s previous composition.
James Watts and James “Possum” Schaill, who were involved in the search process that yielded Oman as the top candidate, voted against Berrien’s motion.
The decision puts Fort Meade in a difficult position.
The previous city manager, Jan Bagnall, resigned in August, and the city charter states that an interim city manager may only hold that position for five months. Maria Sutherland, the assistant city manager, will reach five months in the interim role on Jan. 21.
To avoid violating the charter, commissioners discussed appointing a temporary city manager as they reopen the search process. Berrien suggested two potential candidates, but each is related to either a commissioner or a city staffer, raising questions about violating a state anti-nepotism law.
Toward the end of a meeting that lasted more than four hours, the commission directed City Attorney Chris Berg to research the matter and confirm that the two candidates for a temporary role, Greg King and Dustin Burke, are ineligible under state law. Commissioners voted to schedule a special meeting for Jan. 18, at which they will decide how to proceed.
If neither King nor Burke is eligible, commissioners said they would likely seek help from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), which could recommend a retired administrator willing to fill a temporary role.
Tensions over selection process
At the start of the meeting, commissioners voted to appoint McCutchen as mayor and Berrien as vice mayor. Watts, the longest-serving board member, had previously served as mayor.
Berrien won a runoff election in November for Seat 5, which had been open since Barbara Arnold’s resignation, which was announced at a commission meeting in June. He took office at the special meeting held in December.
Williams ousted 26-year Commissioner Bob Elliott in an election earlier in November, but under city rules he did not take office until January.
Berrien, Williams and McCutchen had previously questioned the actions of the City Commission, with one seat empty and Elliott in a lame-duck role, in moving to narrow candidates for the city manager and then voting to make an offer to Oman. They and some Fort Meade residents said it would be better to wait until after Berrien and Williams, who would share in supervising the city manager, had taken office.
McCutchen cast the sole vote against offering the job to Oman in late November but joined the others in approving the contract for the sake of unanimity.
Elliott cited the time limit created by the five-month clause in the city charter as a reason not to delay. After Berg negotiated a contract with Oman, the city called the special meeting in December, rather than waiting for the next scheduled meeting, so that commissioners could approve the proposal and give Oman sufficient time to leave his current job and arrange to start work in Fort Meade by Jan. 21.
During the commissioners’ comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Berrien showed displeasure upon learning that Oman had not yet returned a sign contract. (Oman told a Ledger reporter in December that he had done so.)
Berg and Watts reported that Oman had delayed signing the offer because he had not yet been able to secure a place to live in Fort Meade. The city charter requires the city manager to live within the city, though commissioners said they would be willing to offer a “grace period,” as the city had done with a previous lead administrator, Danielle Judd.
An audience member, lifelong Fort Meade resident Ben Speight, stepped to the microphone to say he was helping Oman coordinate with a real-estate agent to find a house or apartment.
'Lack of transparency'
Berrien’s frustration become more apparent as the discussion proceeded. He reminded commissioners that Schaill and Elliott had argued against delaying approval of a contract offer for Oman in December, with Schaill saying Oman had an interview with another city scheduled. Berrien wondered if Oman was waiting for a better offer.
McCutchen noted that Oman had been sent the contract about three weeks earlier. She cited a newspaper article from Minnesota reporting Oman’s refusal to answer when asked by Becker County commissioners whether he was leaving for Fort Meade.
“If I got an offer and I wanted to be here, I would be here,” McCutchen said. “Or I would at least sign the contract to let you know that, ‘Hey, this is my good faith. I'm signing it, like I said I would.’ Now, if I'm unable to find a residence in the time frame that you all have set aside — surely, he knows that we could potentially extend that out. He's not new to government. So again, I think he's playing us. That's just my opinion.”
Williams made a similar point.
“I, too, have deep concerns regarding Mr. Oman’s lack of transparency of where he is currently employed, as of today, 4:50 this afternoon, and I think it's important that we understand we have a responsibility to the citizens of the city,” Williams said. “As you (McCutchen) stated, the ball is in our court, and I think too often our conversation that we engage in — it’s as if we are at the mercy of the individual in this particular situation.”
Berrien, who was not involved in interviewing the city manager candidates, questioned whether Oman was a suitable hire. Referring to a Minnesota newspaper report, he said Oman had a reputation for only communicating with certain Becker County commissioners.
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After some additional discussion, Berrien motioned to cancel the offer to Oman, and Williams seconded it, leading to the 3-2 vote. McCutchen asked Berg to inform Oman of the commission’s change of plans.
McCutchen pointed out that in rescinding the offer the commission was left with a “dilemma” of how to avoid violating the city’s five-month limit on having an interim city manager. Berrien suggested appointing King as a temporary leader.
“If it's agreeable, I would like to move in that direction so we can possibly avoid a train wreck,” Berrien said. “I’m not saying that we're going to have one, but all signs indicate derailment.”
Watts seemed skeptical, saying he knew nothing about King and questioning his background. King said he had worked at various levels of government in South Florida before returning to his hometown of Fort Meade.
Nepotism concerns arise
Arnold, the former commissioner, came forward to say that King had served as Williams’ campaign manager, suggesting that his voting to appoint King would be a conflict of interest. Arnold also said that she believed Williams and King were related.
Under questioning from Berg, Williams said he is no longer paying King for his services but confirmed that they are first cousins. Berg cited a Florida statute that forbids a public official from appointing or employing a relative in a position over which the official has authority.
With King apparently ineligible, Berrien suggested another Fort Meade resident, Burke, as a temporary city manager. Burke came forward to say he would be pleased to fill the role but disclosed that the city’s fire chief, Matt Zahara, is his brother-in-law.
Commissioners mentioned another possibility for the temporary role, former Fort Meade City Manager Fred Hilliard, who retired in 2018. Hilliard, who was in the audience, signaled that he would be willing to accept. Schaill motioned to appoint Hilliard, but the vote failed 3-2, with McCutchen, Berrien and Williams opposing it.
During the commission’s deliberations, a city employee shared concerns, based on rumors circulating on social media, that the new majority might appoint a temporary city manager who would promptly fire some staffers. In his motion for Hilliard, Schaill included a provision that he not have the authority to dismiss any city employees.
Sutherland told commissioners that when she served as a city council member in Avon Park, the city once went through a period of four months without a city manager before making a hire. She said that department heads kept the city running smoothly, with the city attorney signing off on orders.
But Berrien seemed wary about such a prospect for Fort Meade.
Commissioners mused on whether to look at the list of finalists from the initial search or open the process up to new applicants. Watts said that he had preferred the runner-up choice for city manager, Patrick Marsh of Port Charlotte. The commission in its previous composition interviewed both Oman and Marsh in person at its Nov. 29 meeting.
On the national stage
The meeting occurred against the backdrop of an interview Bagnall gave for the podcast City Manager Unfiltered, hosted by Joe Turner. In that episode, which posted Dec. 13, Bagnall presented a largely unflattering view of Fort Meade, claiming that he and his wife endured harassment from residents unhappy with some of his actions.
Bagnall also made allegations of improper behavior by the spouse of a city commissioner. In a subsequent episode, Turner reported that he had planned to continue the interview with Bagnall but that the former city manager had canceled, saying he had faced threats in response to the initial episode. Bagnall served as city manager from April 2021 to August 2023.
Reached by phone, Bagnall said that he is no longer talking publicly about Fort Meade.
Gary White can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade rescinds city manager offer, struggles to find interim
