Council tension over manager——————————performance and staff conduct leads to planned executive session

A personnel dispute focused on staff conduct and the city manager's response surfaced during the meeting, with a council member requesting a written reprimand be placed in the city manager———s personnel file and threatening further action if the matter was not addressed. A council member described an incident at the manager——s office in which Finance Director Randy Sherman allegedly raised his voice and spoke over the council member while the manager was present. The council member said he asked the manager to place a written reprimand in the manager's personnel file and that he expected disciplinary action. The council member said the conduct was part of a broader culture problem and asked that the manager be held accountable. City Manager Jonathan Evans said he gave the finance director a verbal warning and a notation will be made in the director's personnel record; Evans said he would not discipline staff solely at the direction of an individual council member and that reprimands and personnel actions are managed through administrative processes. Evans also noted the city uses severance agreements with legal review in certain separations and said such agreements are within statutory limits. The council did not take immediate formal disciplinary action at the meeting. Instead, members discussed the matter and the process for raising personnel concerns. Separately and later in the meeting, the council announced a closed executive session pursuant to Florida Statute 286.0118(d) to discuss appellate litigation in the case City of Riviera Beach v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection and set a closed session for July 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Riviera Beach Public Library with specified attendees and a court reporter. No personnel sanction or termination vote occurred at the meeting; the council member said he would seek placement of a written memorandum in the manager—s file and asked the council to require the manager to do so.