Port Richey council presses City Manager Don King over communication and finances during 90‑day evaluation

Port Richey — The City Council spent the evening discussing City Manager Don King’s 90‑day evaluation, with council members and residents raising persistent concerns about King’s communication style and outstanding financial reconciliations even as King pointed to early progress on grant pursuits and infrastructure planning.

King opened the discussion by reviewing materials in the agenda packet, saying he had focused his first 90 days on building a grant‑seeking culture and preparing shovel‑ready projects to attract construction funds. “We don't have the infrastructure. We don't have the funds to go after everything we want. How do we get there? Let's look at grants,” King said, describing coordination with the grant manager and department directors to pursue state and federal opportunities.

The council pushed back in several areas. Vice Mayor (Council Member) criticized King’s responsiveness, saying he was “highly offended” by what he characterized as a directive telling staff not to take some council members’ calls and urging greater openness: “My job as a hired or an elected official here is to make sure I've got flashlights and magnifying glasses on you and everybody in here.” Multiple council members said staff have at times been reluctant to answer council requests directly for fear of attracting discipline.

King acknowledged the communication gap and apologized for not spotting messages routed to alternate inboxes; he said he would work to improve transparency. “I do apologize for the communication piece,” King said. “Maybe we just need to spend more time together.”

Council members also pressed King on the city’s finance and audit status. King described specific accounting problems that he said required outside help: unreconciled bank reconciliations, trial balance mismatches, excluded accounts in summaries, and audit schedules that were not completed. He said the city has contracted CLA and additional consultants to perform a forensic cleanup of months dating back to October and that the prior audit had been significantly delayed. King said the prior delay had led to loss of a 1% tax incentive tied to timely filings.

Council members and staff discussed several large project figures during the review. King said staff are coordinating an application for a major water‑plant construction grant (cited in the packet near $40 million) and noted differing cost estimates — $45 million as an earlier cost estimate versus a $59 million figure that reflects inflation and future‑value assumptions. King also described a dredging maintenance strategy Stantec has worked on and a roughly $17 million projected cost for that effort.

Public comment split the room. Richard Shepherd accused the manager of unprofessional language during a private site visit and said King suggested he sue the city to force action; King denied using disparaging comments toward the council and said he had worked to keep communication documented and in the legal record. “I deny that,” King said when asked about Shepherd’s allegation. Linda Rodriguez, another resident, praised King’s productivity, noting new signs, medians and other projects that she said had been initiated in his first 74 working days.

Former staff member Adam Thompson, who said he had resigned, appeared during public comment and warned that public criticism can harm employees’ job prospects; he said he left on good terms and would not disparage the city publicly. Other business owners and department heads told the council they had regular contact with King and had received timely responses.

Procedural motions: a council member moved to extend the meeting past 9:00 p.m.; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote. Near the end of the meeting council made a motion to adjourn and closed the session.

No formal personnel action was taken during the meeting; the evaluation remained at the discussion stage. Mayor and council signaled they would revisit the assessment and follow up on specific communication and finance items. The mayor said the council would reconvene on progress and “touch base in another 30 days.”

What’s next: Council asked staff to provide clearer routines for how council members can request factual information from departments without overstepping operational responsibilities, and King committed to improving direct access and inbox management while continuing grant and project work.

(Attributions: Quotes and paraphrases are attributed to speakers appearing in the transcript: Don King, City Manager; the Mayor; the Vice Mayor (identified by role in the transcript); Richard Shepherd; Linda Rodriguez; and Adam Thompson.)