Barbara Grossman, Palm Coast government’s code enforcement manager since 2005, was escorted out of her office and City Hall Friday after her position was eliminated, as were six other employees. The city’s animal control division was gutted.
Grossman was one of seven city employees who were either laid off or resigned as a result of the layoffs, as was the case with Heather Priestap, an animal control officer with the city even longer than Grossman–24 years.
Four people in code enforcement, including Animal Control officer Chelsie Willis and temporary animal control officer Kathy Tillman, and two in the Planning Department, including Landscape Architect Richard Picatagi and the land management coordinator, were laid off. A temporary animal control officer was also laid off, as was a temporary staff assistant.
The city attributed the layoffs to a “restructuring” resulting from “ongoing efforts to align operations with the fiscal direction established by the City Council.” The council earlier this week directed the administration to craft a budget that would keep the property tax rate at rollback, meaning that next year’s tax revenue would have to be equal to this year’s, excluding revenue from new construction. City Manager Mike McGlothlin warned that it would result in service cuts. (See: “Palm Coast Council Members Push to Pause New Deputy Hirings Amid Budget Tensions Over Taxes.”)
The six layoffs affected employees with combined salaries of $490,900, not including benefits. With Priestap’s resignation, the city would eliminate roughly $700,000 from its payroll.
Four employees, including Grossman, who was earning $138,000 a year, and Picatagi, who was earning $107,000, were offered $20,000 severance payouts.
The layoffs took place on a day when both McGlothlin and John Zobler, the director of the Community Development Department that oversees code enforcement and planning, were absent or out of contact. Zobler had begun a weeklong vacation. McGlothlin was in a daylong mediation session at City Hall with attorneys and the developers of Town Center who are suing the city. McGlothlin was later briefed.
The layoffs–which affected employees referred to as firings–took place with no warning, and in drips, rather than in one, organized swoop.
Grossman was in a meeting with one of her animal control officers, discussing the animal control ordinance, when she was called to the Human Resources Department, headed by Renina Fuller. She was handed a letter signed by McGlothlin and dated July 31, informing her of her layoff. “This decision is the result of organizational restructuring and business needs and is not related to your job performance or conduct,” the letter reads.
McGlothlin invited her to apply for other city positions if she wished, and offered her a separation agreement. The letter was ostensibly a 10-day “notice of separation,” as Grossman is to be paid her regular salary through Aug. 9, when her employment would end.
But it ended Friday. Grossman returned from her meeting in HR escorted by a code enforcement staffer, told colleagues her position was abolished and that she’d been fired, according to a person who witnessed the scene.
Employees were in shock. They were aware of the suggestions at the City Council that the code enforcement division’s 11.5 employees could be severely cut by changing the mission of code enforcement to a complaint-only system. But the council had retreated from that approach, and only last Tuesday, McGlothlin and Acting Deputy City Manager Kyle Berryhill had met with code enforcement staffers to let them know that the reduction was the last thing they wanted to do. After that meeting, Berryhill returned to Grossman and told her something along the lines of “we are OK for now.”
On Friday, Grossman was first to be summoned to HR and walked out. Hours passed before Tillman was called and walked out, and yet more time passed before staff assistant Carol Goewey was called then escorted out.
The city’s release muted the shock and manner of the layoffs. “Decisions like these are never easy and are made only after careful evaluation of the organization’s operational needs and long-term financial responsibilities,” the release stated. “We sincerely appreciate the service and contributions of the employees affected by these changes and wish them the very best.” There was no mention of employees being escorted out. Luis Mendez, a code complaint supervisor, walked Grossman out and helped her with her belongings.
“This could have been handled better to say the least,” a person who witnessed much of the day said, asking for anonymity. “The top never talks to the bottom before making critical decisions. They do not really even know the day to day operations or what we sacrifice for the city and no one seems to care but maybe a handful of people.”
Council members had not been briefed about the manner of the layoffs.
“From the briefing that I received from HR,” McGlothlin said this morning, “each employee went through the same exit process, all being equally treated professionally and compassionately, given the circumstances. At the conclusion of their individual administrative procedures, each employee was walked to the nearest exit and offered assistance with anything that they may need in order to get to their vehicles. While I am unaware of the exact number of employees who took us up on the offer, I am aware that several did.”
The near-immediate resignation of Priestap as a consequence means that the city’s animal control division has lost two-thirds of its team at a time when the city is attempting to disengage as much as possible from reliance on the Flagler Humane Society for animal control-related services and stand up a joint operation with the county to that end. The administration moved two code enforcement officers into animal control to fill the gap for now, thus diminishing code enforcement’s ranks of about 11 positions.
“After 24 years working for the City of Palm Coast Animal Control I handed in my resignation,” Priestap wrote on Facebook. “It’s a bit scary. It is a highly stressful job all around from the work [itself], being on call having everyone second guess your decisions. Extreme budget cuts when everything you need is going up in cost to already struggling employees to keep up with the demand of the citizens. To hard working dedicated employees being fired and walked out of the building with not having a clue it’s coming. Leaving everyone else in the department wondering if they were next was the wrong way to go about it. Restructuring should not happen like that. It was a horrible day all around.”
Communications Director Brittany Kershaw said that no other layoffs are planned for now. “I say that with the caveat of other departments are still looking at ways to improve efficiencies in their departments and I don’t want to assume that personnel are not involved,” she said. Code Enforcement Supervisor Luis Mendez will assume Grossman’s responsibilities.
The layoffs in code enforcement may not have been exclusively related to a restructuring. The division had been under internal review over concerning issues involving some code enforcement officers and the public. A window into those concerned opened publicly at the July 1 Code Enforcement Board hearing.
That day, Edith Marie Victory, a W-Section resident facing repeat parking violations and fines totaling $7,125, accused the code enforcement division of “selective targeted code enforcement on this property” by a particular code enforcement officer who has been writing repeated violations, driving by her house daily.
“This all started years ago when the same officer began trying to pursue me personally,” Victory told the board, “he was asking me if I was married, if I had a boyfriend, and similar personal questions. Even mentioning that both of us had motorcycles and he wanted to go riding. He asked me out. I turned him down. Not longer after that, the tickets started.” She complained to Grossman. Grossman removed the officer from that zone. Two years later, when he was back in the same zone, the problems started again, Victory said.
“That gap is important to me because it shows that when he was gone, the problems with my yard suddenly stopped existing on paper,” Victory said. “This has felt like a personal campaign. This specific officer has weaponized his position against me. When I have spoken up about how I was being treated, the response was more tickets and more pressure, not less.” Further attempts to contact Grossman were fruitless, Victory alleged. She said she was leaving Palm Coast after 25 years.
“I am moving to get away from this situation and not to have it follow me to my new property,” Victory said. “I’m asking that whatever happens here today, my new address not be shared with this officer. For the record, I also want to note that when I called code enforcement last week and mentioned a couple of things about this officer, the woman who answered the phone immediately knew who I meant.”
Mendez, the code enforcement supervisor, told the board that Victory had brought the allegation to his attention only days before, and that it would be independently investigated. “That’s already in the process,” Mendez said.
Asked about internal investigations at code enforcement, McGlothlin today said he may have to await Zobler’s return to accurately address the inquiry.
Grossman, one of the longest-serving employees in Palm Coast city government, moved to Palm Coast in 1992, around the time when ITT established the Palm Coast Community Service Corporation. The corporation hired Grossman in 1993 as the architectural coordinator, who enforced deed restrictions. In 2005, the corporation merged with the city, which had incorporated in 1999. From that point on–the last 21 years–Grossman was Palm Coast’s code enforcement manager.
Shark says
Should have been done a long time ago.