Trouble in DeBary

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
‘Incensed’ citizen — David Chapman of DeBary addresses DeBary City Council members Sept. 30.

Staff, council member tangle

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Oct 28, 2009 - 9:15:01am

DeBary politics, always volatile recently, have taken another turn.

City Clerk Stacy Tebo sent a complaint to her boss, Interim City Manager Kassandra Blissett, Oct. 7. Tebo complained about City Council Member Van Conoley’s conduct.

Conoley had placed an item called “Discussion Regarding Staff by Council Member Conoley” on the agenda for the Sept. 30 City Council meeting.

At an earlier meeting, during a discussion of property taxes and the millage rate, Conoley accused Tebo and Chief Financial Administrator Jimmie Seelbinder of lying by omission by not fully informing City Council members about possible millage rates.

Tebo said there had been no attempt to conceal information about the millage rate from City Council members. Seelbinder echoed her sentiments.

Interim City Manager Kassandra Blissett asked that City Council members talk to her, not the staff, about such concerns.

Under DeBary’s charter, members of city staff, including the city clerk, are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the city manager. The city manager directs and is responsible for employees; the manager then answers to the City Council.

Under the charter, council members normally take a hands-off approach to staff.

In her Oct. 7 memo to Blissett, Tebo said Conoley’s action was inappropriate.

“Forgetting the details of a Florida statute [regarding the millage rate] is different than lying or being deceitful. I did not lie to Council, and I was offended by Mr. Conoley’s public insinuation last week,” Tebo wrote.

On Sept. 18, Tebo said, Conoley had come into City Hall and first yelled at Seelbinder, calling him a “liar.”

Then, Tebo wrote, Conoley came into her office, saying Seelbinder had lied to the City Council by telling them they could not increase the millage rate once they had sent it to the property appraiser.

Tebo said Conoley asked her, “What do you think about the chief financial officer lying to the council?”

Tebo said she didn’t respond, not wanting to engage in a dialogue. In her memo to Blissett, Tebo called Conoley’s attitude “hostile.”

“It was extremely disruptive and upsetting,” she wrote.

Seelbinder came to the door then, and said he had not remembered the provision for increasing the millage rate.

Tebo said it wasn’t the first time Conoley had been in City Hall, acting in such a manner.

Interim City Manager Blissett sent a memo to council members Oct. 12, reminding them, “I am not accustomed to the line of questioning I observed at our previous Council meeting.”

She asked City Council members to contact her directly with any question about an employee.

Old history

In a reply to Blissett, Conoley said Tebo had been rude to him back in 2005, when Conoley first ran for City Council. At that time, under City Manager Maryann Courson, some candidates were “favored,” Conoley said, and others were treated rudely by City Hall.

Conoley said he overlooked it at the time, writing it off as simply politics.

“However,” Conoley said, “Ms. Tebo’s recent memo attacking me cannot and will not be overlooked. I look forward to answering any and all false allegations made against me in a Court of Law.”

Tebo isn’t the only city staff member Conoley has questioned during City Council meetings.

At the Aug. 19 meeting, Conoley took Acting City Manager Anthony Gonzalez and Chief Financial Administrator Seelbinder to task for not having the books done in a timely manner for the annual audit.

Mayor Bob Garcia later called it an “interrogation.”

Conoley also suggested cutting Gonzalez’s regular position of assistant city manager, to save money, as well as cutting city employees’ pay by 7.5 percent.

Gonzalez resigned after another candidate was chosen for city manager. That candidate later backed out, after citizens and council members started questioning his background.

Blissett was hired to fill in until a manager is found.

Is peace possible?

Blissett hopes things will settle down now.

“I am confident we can overcome this obstacle and move forward toward our common goal: the betterment of the community,” she said.

Tebo said she hopes for the same.

DeBary resident David Chapman brought the e-mails to light at the Oct. 21 meeting. After witnessing the exchange at the Sept. 30 meeting, Chapman had asked to see any correspondence related to Conoley’s questioning of Tebo and Seelbinder.

During the Oct. 7 meeting, Chapman asked the City Council to remove Conoley. Chapman called Conoley’s address to Tebo and Seelbinder an “express prohibition of the charter” and “nothing less than a public Spanish Inquisition.”

He wanted City Council members to vote on whether Conoley should be removed; the City Council declined to put that item on the agenda.

On Oct. 22, Chapman told The Beacon he’s been following City Council meetings all year, mostly via the Web broadcasts. He disapproves of Conoley’s “egregious displays” toward staff, he said.

Chapman said Conoley could question Gonzalez, who was acting city manager and reporting directly to the City Council. Chapman started becoming angry in August when “Mr. Conoley dressed down Mr. Seelbinder.”

Chapman said he isn’t personally acquainted with the staff, and has no personal vendetta against Conoley.

The Beacon was unable to contact Conoley.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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