One week after setting a date in January to interview city manager candidates, Fort Meade city commissioners instead voted to hire one of them.
In a 3-2 vote, the commission opted to end the search and offer the position to Troy Bell, the former city manager of Palatka. The reversal hinged on Matthew Taylor, whom commissioners appointed at the previous meeting to fill a vacancy created by the November death of James “Possum” Schaill.
After joining the commission during the Dec. 9 meeting, Taylor said he did not feel comfortable voting to hire a new city manager. Told by a city attorney that he could not abstain, Taylor joined the majority in a 3-2 vote against a motion to give Bell the job.
A week later, Taylor swung the majority in the other direction.
Fort Meade has not had an active and permanent city manager for nearly a year. Edward Dean, hired in July 2024, began missing meetings in January and went on medical leave. The City Commission terminated his contract in June, four months after hiring Alis Drumgo as interim city manager.
After Drumgo’s five-month term ended, commissioners chose Howard Brown Jr. for a five-month interim assignment. Fort Meade’s city charter limits interim city managers to five months, and Brown’s contract expires on Dec. 27.
Fort Meade received 19 applications for the opening, among them Assistant City Manager Amy Wheeler, former Fort Meade City Manager Jan Bagnall and former Winter Haven Mayor Steven Hunnicutt. Bagnall resigned in August 2023 after more than two years in the position.
The agenda for the special meeting included a discussion of the “Interim City Manager/Vice Manager Appointment” but not plans to take action on a permanent city manager.
During discussion of the interim position, Commissioner Jaret Williams repeated his motion from the Dec. 9 to hire Bell as permanent city manager, saying he had done “extensive research” on the candidate. Taylor, participating by conference call, quickly seconded the motion.
“I have done research as well,” Taylor said. “The (interim) city manager was kind enough to give me all the interview resumes, and I second that motion.”
Bell served for seven months as city manager in Palatka, a city of about 10,000. City commissioners voted 4-1 to fire Bell in September 2024 after determining that he violated policy by authorizing a $50,000 payment to a promoter for a city festival.
Palatka, like Fort Meade, requires commission approval for any expenses over $25,000. Bell told commissioners that he thought he had the authority to commit the money, according to a report from First Coast News.
Responding to Williams’ motion, Commissioner James Watts pointed out that the city’s hired consultant, Robert Slavin, was conducting background checks on the applicants for city manager.
“I think it’s prudent that we just wait for the background checks, to consider the process we’ve already put in place,” Watts said. “I’ve already done my background checks, my research, past just reading the resume, and I have done it on Mr. Bell before, the other times he has applied, and I cannot back or support that motion.”
Hiring before background check
Mayor Sam Berrien also called for a delay in hiring Bell. He noted that Fort Meade has paid the consultant more than $24,000 to assemble a list of candidates, saying that the money would be wasted if the process is cut short.
“I feel that we need to move forward with a thorough process and then make the decision at the appropriate time,” Berrien said. “I think it’s premature to vote on putting in a city manager without that process.”
During public comments, longtime resident Ben Speight also urged delay.
“Background checks are important, as we’ve said before, and knowing the credentials of someone, comparing them with others,” Speight said. “I know that last week someone made the comment that everybody’s going to have faults. I haven’t looked at any of these, and I kind of find that ridiculous. If there’s people out there that are looking to work here and they fail a background check, we shouldn’t be hiring them.”
Commissioner Petrina McCutchen, who had joined Williams at the previous meeting in voting to hire Bell, addressed questions about his background.
“I would be comfortable with hiring Mr. Bell at this juncture,” McCutchen said. “But also, I would like to, of course, see the background screening, just to make sure there is nothing that gets past us. I put it that way, you know, no criminal acts or anything like that. So, I would be comfortable with hiring him pending the outcome of the background investigation.”
Williams said that Fort Meade has previously made job offers that were not contingent upon passing a background screening. Williams said he found Bell “very qualified to have this position.”
Berrien asked what would happen if commissioners offered Bell the job and then found problems with his background screening. City Attorney Markeishia Smith said the commission could make an amended motion to make the offer contingent upon Bell’s passing a background check, but that would require specifying what passing entails.
“I don’t know of any contract the city has instituted since I’ve been here in the past that says that you can’t get out of those contracts,” Smith said. “There’s always an out.”
Commissioners then voted 3-2 to offer Bell the job.
Bell holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Miami and completed coursework for a doctorate from Purdue University, according to his resume.
His background combines municipal roles and private-sector work. Bell served as deputy chief of staff for the South Florida Water Management District from 1992 to 2003, his resume says, and held brief roles as assistant to the city manager of Beverly Hills, California, and deputy and acting city manager for Walla Walla, Washington.
Bell lists private-sector positions with educational outfits, including a four-year stint as chief academic officer for Pathways/Legacy Academies, based in Tampa.
Commissioners discussed the prospect of needing a temporary city manager in place after Brown’s contract expires on Dec. 27. McCutchen offered a motion directing Smith to consult with Bell about starting immediately.
Brown said that he could draw up an employment agreement, but the City Commission would need a public meeting to ratify the contract. Commissioners voted 3-2 to hold a special meeting Dec. 23 at 5 p.m. to review a hiring agreement. It will be the commission’s third special meeting in December.
Board allows remote voting
Earlier in the meeting, commissioners and Smith discussed whether a member — in this case, Taylor — is allowed by law to participate in meetings by conference call. The commission has previously discussed the issue and has not established a policy, Smith said. She referred to guidance from Florida’s Attorney General.
“A lot of the things that are out there from the Attorney General do hinge on there being some type of medical emergency — or, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an emergency, but some type of medical thing,” Smith said.
An opinion issued by Attorney General Richard E. Doran in 2002 states: “This office has been reluctant to extend the participation in public meetings of public officials by electronic means to situations other than those involving a serious medical condition and the presence otherwise of a quorum at the public meeting place.”
Taylor is a national sales manager for a food company and said that his job requires frequent travel. After being appointed on Dec. 9, Taylor said he would be able to arrange his schedule to be present for most City Commission meetings.
Berrien urged commissioners to create a policy on remote participation in the new year, when he will leave the board.
“But we should move in the same consistency as we have in times past, and we have not put any parameters around when it’s permissible,” Berrien said.
Commissioners then voted 3-1 to allow Taylor’s remote participation, with Watts opposing. That set the stage for Taylor to cast the deciding vote on the hiring of Bell.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Fort Meade cuts search short, votes 3-2 to hire city manager
Reporting by Gary White, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
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