The Key West city commission will decide whether to rehire city manager Al Childress at a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 26, the first meeting for the new mayor and at least two new city commissioners.
But four current commissioners, three of whom will be out of office in the coming month or so, voted on Aug. 8 to authorize the city’s human resources department to begin a statewide search for a new city manager, regardless of whether Childress is rehired, a move supported by commissioners Sam Kaufman and Mary Lou Hoover.
The positions of incoming Mayor DeeDee Henriquez, commissioner Donie Lee and the other two incoming commissioners to be determined at the Aug. 20 primary or Nov. 5 general election are unknown.
Mayor Teri Johnston was not present at the Aug. 8 meeting, and also skipped a reception the night before for outgoing city officials. Jophnston’s absence followed a significantly contentious vote in late June to oust Childress.
Johnston, along with Kaufman and Hoover, both of whom will remain in office, voted in support of Childress. The three outgoing commissioners — Clayton Lopez, Jimmy Weekley and Billy Wardlow — voted to fire Childress, as did Lissette Carey, who also will remain in office.
Carey said on Aug. 8 that the hiring of an executive search firm was not necessary.
“I don’t know if we necessarily got everything we needed from the firm last time, and I think there was information that we could have used, about prior employment for the city manager candidates,” said Carey, who was publicly critical of Childress during his time in Key West.
During the Aug. 8 discussion, Carey wondered whether the search parameters for a new city manager should disqualify any candidate who had been fired from the city in recent years. That proposal was not approved.
Following lengthy discussions, the commission ultimately voted 4-2 to begin the initial stages of a city manager search in the event Childress is not rehired on Aug. 26.
Childress indicated to the Keys Weekly on Aug. 9 that he wants to return to the position.
“None of this means that something can’t change based on what happens at the Aug. 26 meeting,” human resources director Bridget Flores told the commission, adding that her office would begin the preliminary process of finalizing the job description and application processes.
In the meantime, Todd Stoughton remains in place as the interim city manager, having been temporarily promoted from assistant city manager to replace Childress.
On a more positive note, the city commission on Aug. 8 learned that Baptist Health plans to reopen the cancer treatment center on North Roosevelt Boulevard that has been closed for more than a year.
Kaufman expressed serious concern about the lack of available radiation and chemotherapy infusions in Key West.
“We’re thankful that Baptist will enter the market down here to provide cancer care, hopefully within the next year, because my concern is if another year goes by without local cancer care, it’s very bad news for our community.”
The newly sworn-in mayor and commissioners will meet at 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26 to consider the rehiring of Childress.
