Riviera Beach council approves outside counsel for six employees named in mayor’s inquiry

The Riviera Beach City Council on Feb. 25 authorized the city manager to retain external independent legal counsel to prepare a supplemental review on behalf of six employees who were named in Mayor Ronnie L. Felder’s July 2024 inquiry into employee complaints and a climate survey. The council approved up to $65,000 for the work and set a 45-day completion target.

Council members and staff framed the vote as an attempt to give named employees an opportunity to respond and to close lingering questions about the earlier report. Councilperson Shirley Lanier moved the measure; Councilperson Kishaba Miller Anderson seconded it. During the roll call Lanier, Miller Anderson, Councilperson Glenn Spiritus and Chairperson Douglas Lawson voted yes and the motion passed.

The supplemental work will be limited to the six employees who asked to supplement the record: City Manager Jonathan Evans; Assistant City Manager Deirdre Jacobs; Lydia Franks; Cedric Clark; Adam Brody; and Anita Jenkins, according to council discussion. City Attorney Wynne said that contract terms would bar the retained counsel from later representing the named employees in any suit against the city on this subject.…