Stuart's City Commission 3-1 voted Monday to terminate City Manager Mike Giardino and move toward rehiring his predecessor, Mike Mortell, in a major shake-up of the city's leadership.
Commissioner Campbell Rich made the motion to terminate Giardino's contract and offer the city manager position to Mortell. Rich said the decision was based on who he believes is best equipped to lead the city at this point.
"This is not to cast negative aspersions on the job Mr. Giardino has done. It's to recognize who is clearly the most capable of doing this job at this time," Rich said during the meeting. "We're in a bit of a mess. We have not received an allocation from the state for the last three years and that is an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers. Who is best positioned to restore the relationship with our local delegation who will sponsor and make sure we receive those allocations? That's Mr. Mortell."
Mortell was fired without cause in October in a 3-2 vote, with some commissioners raising concerns about his conduct and professionalism. The city later conducted an external search and selected Giardino as city manager earlier this year.
Rich's motion was supported by returning Commissioner Merritt Matheson, who was elected Aug. 18. Matheson said Mortell's history with the city made him the stronger choice.
"[Referencing Mortell] ... a highly qualified prior commissioner, long-term resident, hometown who lives here, whose heart is clearly in it, long-term city employee, city attorney, and then city manager, be wrongfully terminated. And there is no doubt in my mind, he is the best at leading us forward," Matheson said.
Vice Mayor Laura Giobbi was absent from the vote to fire Giardino after leaving the dais when a separate vote removed Commissioner Sean Reed as mayor and appointed Mayor Eula Clarke in his place, ahead of the usual December restructuring.
She said that Giardino was well qualified for the job and that to her, the move was all political.
"Mike [Giardino] was an excellent leader, commanded the trust of his employees, employees of the city, and enjoyed working with him. He was an even-keeled, even-tempered man, but he ran a good ship. When you start to say that someone doesn't have experience, this is an individual who ran LaGuardia Airport, which reports to two major states, New Jersey and New York," Giobbi said. "So it was all political as far as I'm concerned. Certainly not looking forward to having the previous city manager returning."
WQCS sought additional comment from Rich but did not receive a response before the deadline.
Reed, who had been removed as mayor earlier in the meeting, raised previous complaints involving Mortell and questioned whether his conduct met the standards expected of a city manager.
"So if that's professionalism, I mean, I guess I'm on the dissenting side," Reed said. "But that's professionalism from Mike Mortell and from the city commission majority."
Clarke acknowledged the disruption caused by the changes but said she believed the commission needed to move ahead.
"This is really tough," Clarke said. "We never should have lost Mike because people have said it's a disruption, but the disruption should never have happened. And we need to correct and move forward"
The city will wait for Mortell to respond to the offer and negotiate his contract. In the meantime, Jim Chrulski will serve as interim city manager.
Under Giardino's contract, he is entitled to severance equivalent to 20 weeks of his $195,000 salary, or roughly $75,000.