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Commissioner accuses city manager of intimidating 'staring'; city attorney says individual commissioner cannot reprimand manager
Summary
During District 1 remarks, Commissioner Britton accused City Manager Mister Bonaparte of repeatedly 'staring' at staff and herself in a manner she called intimidation and announced she would file a written reprimand; City Attorney Groot told the commission an individual commissioner lacks authority to publicly reprimand the city manager and suggested the statement may be stricken from the record.
Commissioner Britton used her District 1 report at the March 10 Sanford City Commission meeting to raise personnel concerns about the City Manager, saying prolonged "staring" at staff and at her during meetings has been used as an intimidation tactic and describing staff complaints about supervisory behavior.
"Staring at someone for an extended period of time is considered disrespectful," Britton said, adding she has asked the manager in one‑on‑one meetings to stop and that she plans to submit a written reprimand to the commission. Britton also described Human Resources handling she considered deficient and said employees have felt retaliated against.
City Manager Mister Bonaparte and other commissioners pushed back during the exchange, questioning the method for an individual commissioner to issue a reprimand. City Attorney (identified in the transcript as Mister Groot) advised that "there is absolutely no ability to do that...for an individual commissioner to public reprieve, reprimand the City Manager," and suggested the commission could strike the remark from the record at a future meeting.
The exchange included an extended back‑and‑forth about process and tone, with Britton insisting she was raising a matter publicly because she could not resolve it privately and Groot warning that unilateral public reprimands are not recognized under the city charter as a formal action. The transcript records the dispute and the attorney's recommendation to address the matter through appropriate procedural channels rather than a unilateral public reprimand.
The meeting record does not show a formal motion or formal commission action on the allegation itself; staff and legal counsel indicated the matter could be stricken from the record or addressed in a future meeting.
