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Council discussion of outside counsel for staff response stalls after quorum lost; mayor and staff disagree on inquiry role
Summary
Council members and affected city employees sought authorization to hire external independent legal counsel so staff named in a July workplace climate summary could prepare a formal response; a motion to allow employee recommendations for counsel was made but the meeting lost quorum before vote, leaving the issue unresolved.
Riviera Beach — Council members and several city employees addressed a July 2024 document titled “summary, mayor Ronnie L. Felder’s inquiry into employee complaints climate survey.” Employees said the document had harmed reputations and that they were not afforded an opportunity to review or rebut findings before the report went public. Assistant City Manager Deirdre Jacobs and other staff asked the council to authorize independent outside legal counsel to review the inquiry and prepare a response on behalf of impacted staff.
Councilmember Miller Anderson moved to allow the affected employees to propose recommendations for external independent legal counsel; another councilmember seconded and added a 30‑day time frame. Before the council could vote, the meeting lost its quorum when a council member departed; the city attorney advised that without a quorum the council could not take binding action and that the meeting should be adjourned. The motion therefore remained unvoted and the item was not decided.
Points of contention: Mayor Ronnie Felder defended his inquiry as an authorized fact‑finding effort and said he had attempted earlier to resolve issues informally. Multiple staff and managers said the inquiry process treated some employees unfairly, that portions of the report were “hearsay,” and that affected employees had not been given an opportunity to present or rebut evidence before publication.
Next steps: Because there was no vote, the council did not authorize outside counsel at the meeting. Councilmembers discussed options, including routing any procurement and contract for counsel through the city attorney’s office (which would check for conflicts), or allowing the city manager to facilitate hiring an investigator or outside counsel; at least one councilmember requested that any selection process be transparent and that the city attorney vet potential conflicts. The matter is expected to return to a future meeting for formal action.
