A July 6 meeting of the Islamorada Village Council lasted some six hours before the dais said enough was enough for the night. During the gathering, the public attending in person or watching via television or online witnessed passionate, fiery discussion over a resolution not to renew the contract of Village Manager Ted Yates.
A roughly two-hour conversation ensued over Yates after Councilman Mark Gregg sought a different avenue from Councilman Henry Rosenthal’s resolution. He proposed the council engage in a professional improvement program to remedy issues between the council and Yates. The council majority didn’t support the proposal and didn’t get to tab 7 of a 19-tab agenda on the contract nonrenewal. A meeting will be held Monday, July 17 at 5:30 p.m. inside Founders Park Community Center to discuss the resolution item.
Members of the public have chimed in on the ongoing situation, which displayed a glaring divide not only on the council but also within the community. Before and after the meeting, community members wrote letters to the village over the matter. And during the meeting, residents took to the podium to voice their opinion on where the council should go as it relates to the village manager.
Watch the meeting here: https://islamoradafl.portal.civicclerk.com/event/116/media. Discussion over the village manager contract begins at the 2 hour and 10 minute mark.
FAVORING THE NONRENEWAL OF TED YATES
Those in favor of the nonrenewal of Yates’ contract spoke first during the meeting, as directed by Mayor Buddy Pinder, followed by supporters who believed he deserves to stick around.
Those in favor of the nonrenewal of Yates’ contract included Joe Wischmeier, who stated that there were many inconsistencies since Yates took over, leading to dissension with council members.
“Even when some members attempted to get items on agenda they were told ‘no.’ There was also dissension among staff members which led to the firing of a very popular and overqualified planning director who was promoted to director of development services and planning director Dan Guliizo. “He did not even consult council members to let them know of his plans to fire him. It would have been considerate since he was a high ranking official and not in the best interest of the village to let him go. Now some department and staff members have 4-day work weeks. I can’t get info on who works and when so that I can make plans. Is it four 10 hours a day? Is it just four days? Again, without consulting council members. Did Mr. Yates forget that the council works for the people of Islamorada and he works for the council? We deserve more transparency on major decisions.”
Capt. Ed Davidson described the discussion as “pretty earth shaking.” “It’s also questionably ethical for a declared advocate to interview staff nonconfidentiality who were probably scared crapless of their own jobs after the way Dan was treated,” he said. “It’s disingenuous to pretend there’s not great division. There’s already lots of division on the council, but not between you two guys (Pinder and Gregg) and Yates, because you’ve been winning all along. And you have been disrespecting and intimidating our two new council members inappropriately. They got elected on reform platforms by people who wanted change, the same voters who objected your former colleagues who were in on the deals.
Van Cadenhead said he thinks Ted’s a nice guy. However, he said he was put in on a temporary basis, with a trial period beginning a year ago. “Any problems we’ve had with him should have been addressed in this council by you people,” he said. “We should have a six-month review which we did not, that’s a failure by all of you. We had a review for the termination of his contract, (there was) an evaluation by Capt. Jolin and she’s the only one who put it in writing. As something as important as the village manager, you should have put in writing your opinions, your evaluation of his performance. He’s had his time. He’s had his probation. For Mr. Gregg to come in here in a desperate try to obfuscate the problem we’re having and to kick the can down the road with a PIP program or some other, this is a call to question.
Dave Petkovich said in the last meeting that Yates reminded everyone that the council has gone through 10 managers. “I think this a sad, horrible excuse for the dysfunction in management that’s been going on,” he said. “Many people are asking why was Dan fired by Ted? Why was he transitioned out? I believe this is crystal clear. Dan wouldn’t fit into Mr. Yates’ plans for expansion development. It’s as simple as that. We don’t need a rehabilitation of Ted. We need to transition away. I’m for team Islamorada, not team Ted.”
Robert Moser said he wished Dan would have received a PIP (professional improvement plan) chance. “I think Dan Gulizio deserved a PIP chance,” he said.
John Fernandez said he doesn’t necessarily agree or disagree to let the manager go. “I do think if I was the manager and I can see I have less than three votes, I’d say on my own, ‘you know what, I don’t think this is the place I want to stay.’ At some point there’s going to be an issue where that third vote is going to be gone and then I’m going to be history. I think the manager should probably think very hard as to whether this is the place for him.”
Tom Raffanello said he was a manager for over 30 years, different shapes and sizes, states and handled many staffs. “In my observation this is broken. A lot of this is a self-inflicted gunshot wound. There’s no rehab at this point. You need to start fresh. This is not personal, this is business. I think you need to start with a new manager you all agree on. And that manager has to have the ability to relate to all of you, not just ones he thinks has the power in this situation.”
SUPPORTERS COME OUT TO BACK TED YATES
Supporters of Yates as village manager included Pastor Tony Hammon. “I believe there is a more — and it’s a keyword I’ve used with all of you — redemptive path,” he said. “There’s a path that doesn’t involve malicious payback, which I see happening here. This can be taken rather than jumping immediately into not renewing his contract. I believe in Mr. Yates is functioning with great integrity, even by refusing to publicly air his reasons for terminating his employee, and that’s what he was hired to do. The employees that work under him are his responsibility. I think council, you have the responsibility of hiring the village manager and village attorney. He functioned in the realm of his job description.
Glenn Latham said he doesn’t see how a council could effectively make a decision if the council members are so divisive. “I think there first needs to be a PIP for the council or something. I’d implore you to come together as a council so that you can make a good decision on where to move forward. I know Mr. Yates for a year since he’s been here. I can say a lot of good things about him. I’ve heard some knit-picky things, some personal things, some people feeling attacked. I’ve been on half-billion dollar executive committees, and when we had disagreements we worked it out.”
David Epstein said he’s effectively been a city manager on an Air Force base in Homestead and around the world. He said he’s only been coming to the council for a few months, but he said the council will see him more as his government career winds down. He agreed with sentiments shared by Hammon and Latham. “I look forward to working with Ted over the next 5 to 10 years, because that’s what needs to happen here.”
Andy Newman said his concern over anything else is consistency and continuity. “This council has had three village managers since 2020, I personally don’t believe we can afford to have another one, to have to go out for an RFP and go through the process. I think you should give it a little more time.”
Craig McBay, speaking on behalf of the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, said the board of directors met for a special call meeting on July 5 to discuss the resolution to not renew Yates’ contract. “The chamber board does not agree with the statement, believe it would not be in the best interest of the village to not renew the current contract and we would encourage each of you to consider the village as a whole while you consider this issue. The village needs continuity and stability to move us forward. This resolution would not accomplish either of these issues. We would also encourage you to consider the large sum of money spent on yet another search for a village manager and what that process would do for our reputation.”
Frank Derfler said there’s one thing that always works, the board speaks with one voice. The board speaks to the manager with one voice. That’s a philosophy that’s probably the only logical way to make it work. And folks, you aren’t doing that. What I think is that you haven’t had a board retreat apparently, you haven’t really gone through level setting within the board. Level setting is extremely important, you haven’t done the things, you haven’t done the homework as a board that you need to do in order to be effective with your executive. You can’t really blame the executive for failing when you have not succeeded.”
Derek Rodberg said there’s an expression that “if it’s not logical it’s political.” “And this is as political as it can get,” he said. “I do know Ted through a couple different avenues. He and his wife are all-in in this town. They are doing everything in their power to make this the best town in America. I think if we give him a chance he’ll do that.”
Claire Johnson said a council member’s role is to set policies and not micromanage. “I’m hopeful the council will look at the entire picture even including the effects on staff and all potential ripple effects that micromanaging will have.”
George Perez said the PIP is a great idea. I use it in my business throughout the years and I’m glad we do because I’ve been able to keep very good people in the business. You don’t know until you give them that opportunity who’s going to be the positives and who are not. This is a great town being led by seemingly great people. I hope and implore you guys to work together.”
Richard Engel said he finds it appalling to a point that the five council members couldn’t agree on what to drink and what to eat. “And that’s got to get corrected. That’s the main issue here. I don’t think it’s Ted. I think the focus is there (the council). You guys have to get a team-building effort together, find a common ground and build from there.”
Attached are the letters obtained by the Keys Weekly from the village on Thursday, July 13 related to those who wrote in support and against the nonrenewal before and after the July 6 meeting. An overwhelming majority of those writing letters support Yates as village manager.
