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Having received a vote of “no confidence” from a majority of the City Commission last week, Deltona City Manager Jane Shang is reportedly quitting.
The Beacon has received notice of a special meeting of the City Commission, called for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, for “a discussion regarding the City Manager’s resignation.”
No other information was available early Monday afternoon. The Beacon has requested a copy of Shang’s resignation letter, but City Attorney Marsha Segal-George says she has not seen such a letter. Nor does she know if it is yet available.
The commission Jan. 21 voted 4-3 on two motions pertaining to Shang. Mayor Heidi Herzberg, who has previously been a stalwart supporter of Shang, put forward a motion to fire Shang, followed by a motion of no confidence. The firing motion failed to gain the supermajority support — meaning at least five of the seven members of the commission — to become effective.
Shang has been under fire from Deltona residents and members of the City Commission for more than a year.
Last summer, Shang entered into a deferred-prosecution agreement with the State Attorney’s Office for violations of Florida’s election laws.
The agreement enabled her to avoid a trial for election fraud, arising from illegally voting in city district elections in 2016 and 2018, and for listing Deltona City Hall as her home address on voting records. The violations are third-degree felonies, punishable by five years imprisonment.
As part of the agreement, Shang had to pay almost $6,000 in fees and charges related to the state investigation that led up to her facing the criminal charges. If Shang completes the terms of the agreement and stays out of trouble for a year, the charges will be dismissed.
In addition, a Deltona resident, Brandy White, alleged city officials had wrongly blocked access to public records in 2018. White is suing the city for filing a criminal charge against her for electronically recording an encounter in a public area of City Hall.
The State Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute White, but the incident showed up on a criminal-background report and, White says, almost barred her from adopting a child. White is seeking to have the charge expunged.
When White attempted to serve notice of her intent to sue Deltona, she says, Shang refused to accept the notice and drove away from the City Hall parking lot.
When she called for Shang’s termInation at the Jan. 21 City Commission meeting, Herzberg blamed Shang for allegedly low morale among city employees. She also complained about a lack of communication between Shang and members of the commission.
Shang has been Deltona’s chief administrative officer since mid-2015.
She moved to Deltona from El Paso, Texas, where she was deputy city manager.
