The Tallahassee City Commission is moving forward with plans to hire a new city manager.
Tallahassee City Manager Reese Goad is retiring. Commissioners voted 4-1 Wednesday to immediately launch a nationwide search for his replacement. But the move was strongly opposed by Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who has long butted heads with Goad and who brought up frustrations over how the city manager was initially hired.
Matlow, who is running for Mayor argues the search should be postponed until after the election. He said three seats on the board are up for grabs and he feels the new commission should pick Goad’s replacement.
“It feels a bit like Deja vu in 2018 when public corruption allegations were at an all-time high. Just before an election, City Manager Goad was installed. The process was flawed,” he said.
Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox, who is currently campaigning to keep her seat made the motion to move forward with the search.
“We're not here to prosecute or make accusations against the current city manager. We're looking to the future for the next city manager and we're trying to get a process in place,” she said.
The conversation quickly got heated, with nearly every commissioner talking over each other and accusing each other of being out of order and violating chamber rules.
Tom Derzypolski is one of seven candidates running for the seat currently held by Commissioner Matlow. He was in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting. When asked about the decision, he said he’s concerned the commission’s fractured relationships over the past several years may impact the search.
“What bothers me about the process is because of their behavior, I'm afraid a qualified city manager may not apply, or they're going to come in under a cloud, and I think that's avoidable, and that we should extend this process out,” he said.
The recruitment process is expected to take about four months. Goad’s final day is scheduled for September 30, or whenever a replacement is hired.