City Manager Headlines | 4-19-2024

FL: City attorney’s failure to stand draws city manager’s ire in Palatka (PAYWALL)

Palatka City Manager Troy Bell is apparently peeved that the city attorney will not stand when she gives her reports to the council.

Since I could not read the story due to the paywall, I tried to track down more info about it because it seemed like an odd situation. According to this Facebook post and comments — I guess the issue is really over whether the attorney should stand or not.

FL: St. Petersburg allowing residents to vote on projects

The City of St. Petersburg is asking residents to vote on one of five projects as part of the city’s new Innovative Equity Project.

Residents can vote on one of the five projects until June 12, according to the city. A budget of up to $1 million has been set aside. These projects were created by multiple city departments, and “prioritize innovation, inclusivity and equity.”

TX: Rural Texas towns report cyberattacks that caused one water system to overflow

A hack that caused a small Texas town’s water system to overflow in January has been linked to a shadowy Russian hacktivist group, the latest case of a U.S. public utility becoming a target of foreign cyberattacks.

In Muleshoe, with a population of about 5,000, hackers caused the water system to overflow before it was shut down and taken over manually by officials, city manager Ramon Sanchez told CNN.

RI: East Providence settles lawsuit brought by former city manager

Richard Kirby was fired in 2016 – less than a year after he was appointed to the city manager position. Kirby filed a lawsuit in 2019 alleging ethical violations against a member of the governing body. Details of the settlement have not been released, yet…

VA: Portsmouth’s interim city manager fires deputy city manager

Deputy City Manager Vernell Woods was persuaded to join Portsmouth seven months ago by then-interim city manager Mimi Terry. Things did not go as planned for him.

Georgia city manager Steven Carter was selected over Terry and the council hired Dr. Lydia Pettis-Patton of The Berkley Group to fill in as the interim until Carter arrived. She promptly fired Woods.

TX: Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn has contract amended after just four months

Mashburn is crushing it in Princeton where the governing body has given him a raise and extended his contract after less than 4 months on the job.

TX: Lacy Lakeview employees say they ‘no longer trust the city manager’ and other city officials

The City of Lacy Lakeview leadership is under fire by anonymous city employees who claim they have a hostile workplace and no trust in leaders like their city manager.

CA: Lawsuit accuses Los Angeles County of bilking contract cities

The City of Lancaster has filed a lawsuit claiming it and other contract cities are being shortchanged by the LA County Sheriff’s Department. The city claims that the LASD has not fulfilled the man-hour obligations due to an inability to hire and retain staff and essentially pocketed the difference.

SC: How did this small South Carolina town rack up a $1.8 million deficit?

Surfside Beach announced it has a $1.8 million budget deficit, but officials cannot agree on how it got that high.

Surfside Beach Town Administrator Gerry Vincent attributes the deficit to the fact that it has been several years since Surfside Beach has increased its millage, which determines how much property taxes are charged.