Public input and support works – this time. Update – having no immediate alternative, council works out an agreement to have interim manager Truitt remain for the next few months.

 Thank you Village Employees, interested and involved positive Village residents, and Council Member David Singer. Your joint efforts have bought Palmetto Bay a few more months of Interim Manager Truitt who decided to extend his stay as announced at the meeting held on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

I broke the news of the sudden resignation in my Monday, 9/21/2020,  blog post. The readership of this post was huge – and it lead to significant public input and statements of support for interim manager Truitt. Many residents have fond memories of him when he was our Village Police Commander. They have reason to fear another leadership vacuum.  

The fact that the (temporary) resignation was a surprise to the entire council demonstrates the level of toxicity of the manager/Mayor & Council relationship in Palmetto Bay. Hopefully, it may have been the shock they needed to step back and allow him to do his job for our community. I am aware of the efforts of Council Member David Singer to reverse the course and hold on to Greg Truitt. No other member of the village council made a public statement in support. That silence, in and of itself, spoke loudly.

I am also privy to the fact that many current village employees have rallied around their current interim leader, asking him not to leave behind a rudderless ship, heading for the rocks. Three failures at manager in two years is far too big a burden to shoulder. [I am including the last minute “no thank you” from Mike Renshaw (See post of July 15, 2020, CLICKHERE)]. This does not bode well for hiring a permanent manager. I personally had hope that it would be Interim Manager Truitt. The experience he has and has gained is hard to replace. Will Palmetto Bay get a qualified lateral transfer or will it be forced to settle on ‘a friend’ who has been out of work, chasing any position he or she can find? The behavior of this mayor and some of the council may limit the pool willing to serve the residents.  

I will tell you that the next manager, willing to serve the residents of this very fine village will be “in spite of” and “not because of” this current mayor and several of the council members.

My request to the current mayor and council: Let Interim Manger Truitt and staff do their jobs and remove the drama from this Village. The fact that there was a sudden written resignation demonstrates a huge fracture between the current mayor and management.  It never would have gotten as far as it did, his no-notice resignation, but for the tense atmosphere at Village Hall created by the mayor and several members of the council.