STUART — City Manager Michael Mortell’s job is hanging by a thread after what some call an “ambush” by the City Commission.
Commissioner Sean Reed — who had called for a review of Mortell’s contract and less than a week ago explained only that “everyone deserves a performance review” — called for Mortell’s resignation at the Oct. 13 commission meeting.
He offered no explanation why, except to say he wanted to help pick the next city manager. He declined to answer questions after the meeting.
At the next meeting, Oct. 27, commissioners said, they will vote whether to fire Mortell.
“A meeting by ambush is never acceptable,” Mortell said during the meeting, citing the commissioners’ code of conduct.
City Attorney Lee Baggett told commissioners the public hadn’t been given adequate notice of the meeting, given the seriousness of the issue. Noting what he, too, called an “ambush” by commissioners, Baggett said Mortell was entitled to due process.
Ouster has commission majority
Reed was not alone in seeking to oust Mortell.
Vice Mayor Christopher Collins, at the Oct. 13 meeting, backed Reed in his effort to unseat Mortell and, like Reed, declined to detail how Mortell failed to perform or even if he did fail. Collins wanted to avoid “litigating (Mortell’s) faults” on the dais “out of respect” for him, Collins said.
Commissioner Laura Giobbi, too, argued that the details of the city manager’s performance should be kept private. From her first day as a commissioner in 2024, she said, there have been issues with Mortell of misrepresentation and trust. She declined to elaborate, both during the meeting and afterward.
Mortell’s history
Mortell has been city manager two years.
A 1983 graduate of Martin County High School, he left the area and came back in 1990. In November 2001, he was elected to the City Commission, where he served until 2011.
He was city attorney from 2013-2023, when he was hired as city manager. His current salary is $265,725 a year.
Public opinion
While several people spoke at the meeting in support of Mortell, others agreed he should be fired.
“I’ve heard a lot about transparency. I’m not seeing a lick of it right now,” said former Mayor Merritt Matheson.
Mark Brechbill, chair of the city Community Redevelopment Board, said he’s unsure whether the city will find someone with Mortell’s experience if the city manager is forced out. He called Reed’s motion to have Mortell resign “a premature motion.”
Brechbill suggested the commission put together a group to identify the issues with Mortell.
“Mike does nothing but defend this commission,” said Ted Astolfi, CEO of the Economic Council of Martin County, during the public-comment period. “I don’t appreciate the ambush.”
Instead, commissioners should have spoken to Mortell first, Astolfi said.
However, Robert Hamilton, a resident who has been dealing with the city over renovations to his home, didn’t mince words: “We have a cancer in the community,” he said. “We need to remove the cancer.”
Why not administrative leave?
The City Commission is letting Mortell continue to work because his potential interim replacement was absent from the meeting Oct. 13.
That person, a department head, had to be at the meeting Oct. 13 or the city would run without a city manager for two weeks.
Commissioners said they may tap Financial Services Director Louis Boglioli as acting city manager if they fire Mortell.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Stuart City Commission seems poised to fire its city manager, but no one will say why
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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