Leadership turnovers continue to dog Deltona

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Leadership turnovers continue to dog Deltona
BEACON FILE PHOTO<br> <b>Deltona City Hall</b>

After days of turmoil and confusion about who is in charge at City Hall after the city manager quit, the Deltona City Commission met Aug. 17 to fill its management void.

First, commissioners named a new interim city manager and welcomed offers of help from neighboring governments.

The latest round of turbulence is but another episode in leadership turnovers that have dogged Deltona for almost a year.

To fill the leadership vacuum created when Interim City Manager Jim Chisholm abruptly quit Aug. 15, the commission unanimously tapped Deltona Water Director Glenn Whitcomb.

“I’ll do the best I can,” Whitcomb promised after the meeting ended.

Chisholm exited days after Deputy City Manager Rick Karl resigned. In addition, Deltona Planning Director Joe Ruiz submitted his resignation, to become effective Sept. 5.

“We have a problem here,” one speaker told the commission. “Do something. Do better.”

To address the immediate need for a boss, Commissioner Jody Lee Storozuk moved to name Whitcomb as interim city manager. Storozuk’s motion drew a quick second from Vice Mayor Maritza Avila-Vazquez.

There was another surprise for many Deltonans when they learned Chisholm had hired a second deputy manager, Suzette Cameron. Her current status is unclear; she was not present for the meeting. 

Advice from the public                 

A large crowd turned out to witness the latest episode of drama in the city of almost 100,000 people.

“What I would ask is that you start immediately to search for a permanent city manager,” Tara D’Errico, a 2022 candidate for the City Commission, told the elected body. “Now is not the time for on-the-job learning. … We need all of you to lead our city and put its residents first.”

Former City Commissioner David Sosa suggested a drastic step to deal with the leadership void, as hurricane season ramps up and two storms build in the Atlantic.

“My personal opinion — declare a state of emergency,” he said. “Put [Fire] Chief Bill Snyder in charge. Do the search for a new city manager.”

A few speakers even urged the commission to appoint Sosa as city manager.

Other speakers addressed the difficulty in finding and retaining a city manager. Noting Deltona has had 18 city managers since its incorporation 28 years ago, Adam Vazquez called for a change in direction and in government.

“I would like to see us move to a strong-mayor form of government,” he said. 

Such a change would require amending the city’s charter to provide for an elected chief executive. Amending the charter requires a referendum of the city’s voters.

Given Deltona’s history of choosing its professional leaders and their often short tenure, Vazquez predicted the selection of a new city manager would follow the same pattern.

“The next one we hire will be here less than two years,” he concluded.

Ted Noftall urged the commission to avoid using professional organizations such as the International City and County Managers Association and the Florida City and County Managers Association to assist in the search.

“I am an unapologetic proponent of the private sector, and I would encourage you all to stop right now in your tracks and turn this ship around and hire the next manager from the private sector,” he said. 

Noftall, who lives in Port Orange, ran unsuccessfully for the District 3 seat on the Volusia County Council last year.

How did Deltona come to this point?

Deltona has been without a permanent city manager since Jane Shang resigned in late January 2020. 

Shang quit after the City Commission had given her a vote of no confidence because of her leadership style and violation of state election laws. Dr. Marc-Antonie Cooper followed her as acting manager, until the commission demoted him in November 2020 for allegedly failing to keep members informed about issues affecting Deltona. The commission was also chagrined to learn that Cooper had been hunting for a new job.

The City Commission, in a surprise move, next turned to then-Public Works Director John Peters to serve as acting city manager. Peters did not seek the post, but he accepted it. He served as Deltona’s chief administrative officer until Sept. 19, 2022. 

Peters’ time as acting city manager was also colored by ongoing confusion about whether he could hold the position of permanent city manager, because he lived in DeBary, not Deltona. 

Peters, who had complained about interference in his official duties by members of the commission, resigned with the understanding he would relinquish his duties as manager in November and return to his previous post of public-works director.

The City Commission terminated Peters instead — just days before Hurricane Ian brought record rainfall and flooding to much of the city. Peters is now suing Deltona, alleging a wrongful dismissal.

To fill the void left by firing Peters, the City Commission named City Attorney Marsha Segal-George as acting city manager until it made an interim appointment several days later. 

In October 2022, commissioners subsequently chose Chisholm, a retired Daytona Beach city manager, to handle the routine operation of the city. 

Chisholm was hired with the understanding that he would assist Deltona in finding a new permanent manager. That search became a less-urgent priority in the wake of severe hurricane damage and the need to recover. 

What was supposed to be a stint of six months or so for Chisholm stretched out, and the hunt for his replacement was sidetracked.

Chisholm had recently expressed frustration about his job, during a meeting when the public griped about plans to buy him a $52,000 vehicle and to remove limits on his discretionary spending.

“I’m not going to sneak something by, and try to break it into two $25,000 items,” he told the commission and the audience Aug. 7. “I’m tired of listening to people saying how unprofessional I am, and how stupid I am, and how stupid you are, when we’re trying to move forward. I’ve had it up to here!”

The business at hand

Fast-forward to now. Help in dealing with the immediate time-sensitive matters may come from DeBary, whose city manager addressed the Deltona City Commission with an offer they may not refuse.

“As you know, you’ve got the budget due in the next 30 days, and whomever you choose as your acting city manager or interim city manager, this is what I discussed with [DeBary] Mayor [Karen] Chasez, was the possibility of me reaching out to some of my colleagues around the county, including Volusia County, to see what kind of a team we could put together to support the City of Deltona and to try to help you launch the search for a city manager and to be your advisory board, or whatever you want to call it, and see what we could do to be of assistance to the City of Deltona,” DeBary City Manager Carmen Rosamonda said.

“I’m sure that my colleagues on the County Council are willing to extend the resources. We have a lot of resources in the county … and so don’t hesitate to call,” County Council Member David Santiago told the commission.

Before voting on the motion to name Whitcomb as interim city manager, Vice Mayor Anita Bradford voiced misgivings.

“I’m uncomfortable putting Glenn in that position because he’s going to be a sacrificial lamb,” she said.

Bradford urged the commission to “reach out to the governor’s office” and call for a state investigation to determine if there have been charter violations and interference by elected officials in the administrative branch of the city government.

At that point, Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. said he has an appointment with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio Monday, Aug. 21, “to discuss a forensics audit of Deltona.”

The City Commission is set to meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21, to discuss and plan the search for a city manager. The meeting will take place at Deltona City Hall, 2345 Providence Blvd., and is open to the public.

“If we don’t stop hiring interim city managers, nothing is going to get done,” Avila said.

Four members of the commission physically attended the Aug. 17 special meeting. Avila and Storozuk, Commissioners Stephen Colwell and Dana McCool were present. Vice Mayor Anita Bradford joined by phone, and Commissioner Maritza Avila-Vazquez joined via Zoom. Commissioner Tom Burbank was on vacation.

In contrast to the Aug. 7 regular meeting of the commission that lasted almost until midnight, the Aug. 17 session lasted an hour plus a few minutes.

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