City managers come and go, but those who keep their bosses happy stay awhile.
And Tuesday night, it was clear that Rickelle Williams has not done that after just a year on the job as the top boss at Fort Lauderdale City Hall.
Williams, 40, started off by proudly touting her accomplishments at the start of her job performance review, but soon found herself under fire from three of her five commission bosses.
The two-hour discussion grew increasingly tense, with her supporters shouting in protest as Mayor Dean Trantalis and Commissioners John Herbst and Steve Glassman critiqued Williams and her first year on the job.
Trantalis faulted Williams for not sharing key information with the commission. He also accused her of treating some of her subordinates in a dismissive way, including the police and fire chiefs.
“You’ve come in here with an imperious attitude,” Trantalis said. “For that reason, we are now at a crossroads.”
The mayor also said two staffers left the city manager’s office and took pay cuts to move to other departments, claiming it was “just to get away from her.”
When given the chance to respond, Williams defended herself.
“I never want to come across as dismissive or imperious,” Williams said. “Sometimes a person in my role has to be assertive and has to be a leader. I have done nothing but push this city forward. I ask questions (of my staff). And some questions probably should have been asked many years ago. And I’m now asking them because I want to help.”
Herbst urged Williams to stop creating new staff positions when the city is potentially facing a string of tight budget years.
“We have some very expensive positions that you’ve created that never existed before,” Herbst told Williams. “You are building your executive staff with people who make $250,000 a year. And we can’t afford that.”
Herbst chided Williams for having four assistant city managers when prior city managers got by with two.
“We are top heavy,” Herbst said. “I’ve been a strong opponent of the growth in the number of departments, the administrative overhead and the expenses. We need to be leaning into the fact that things are going to get tight. Please, please, please, start embracing frugality.”
Fort Lauderdale City Manager Rickelle Williams listens Feb. 3 as the commission debates whether to eliminate the tree-lined median on Las Olas Boulevard. (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Herbst also shared that he has heard rumblings from the police department’s rank and file about holding a vote of no confidence to show Williams has lost their support.
“I have talked to the rank and file,” he said. “I can tell you they’re unhappy. The folks that wear the uniform in the police department are not happy.”
Commissioner Steve Glassman echoed the refrain.
“City manager, you and I have had a lot of conversations,” he told her. “I have not been shy. And you have not been shy. The first bump in the road we had, we went to lunch. We sat for three hours. I’ve heard the same things. We’ve all heard these things. We have to get to a point where everyone feels room to breathe, not beaten on. I can’t change that. You can change that.”
Vice Mayor Ben Sorensen and Commissioner Pamela Beasley-Pittman came to Williams’ defense, heaping praise on the work she has done so far and urging their colleagues to keep her on the job.
“I’m looking at someone who has come in as an outsider and has been able to build relationships and achieve things that have been left unaddressed,” Beasley-Pittman said. “And she’s been able to come in and make changes. She’s doing a great job. Yes, there’s room for improvement. But she’s doing the job.”
Beasley-Pittman then accused the mayor of trying to discredit the city manager.
“I am hoping the direction of this conversation is one where we are going to support our city manager going forward,” she said. “This is not the time to look for a new city manager. How many city managers have we had in the last 10 years?”
Sorensen summoned both Fire Chief Stephen Gollan and Police Chief Bill Schultz to the lectern and quizzed them on their relationship with the city manager.
Gollan said he and Williams had a rough start in the beginning but things have since changed and he now feels supported.
Schultz said he has regular meetings with Williams.
“In the beginning she had concerns about crime stats and overtime,” he said. “We had long talks. And through that time, overtime has improved. And there was a computer reporting issue (with our crime stats). And we did correct it.”
Schultz said he has done his best to steady turmoil within the department and make employees feel welcome, respected, supported.
“I think we are in a very good place,” he said.
Trantalis and Glassman objected, saying it was naive to expect the chiefs to speak openly and freely about their boss in a public setting.
“You can’t expect an employee to respond honestly and objectively,” Trantalis said. “You can’t expect them to be forthright.”
Williams told the commission she has a good working relationship with both chiefs and meets regularly with union leaders.
“My goal is to continue to progress,” she said. “I spent the first six months just finding where the bodies are buried and addressing issues that have gone unaddressed. I don’t ask anything of my team that I wouldn’t do myself. My team knows how hard I work. And they know that I’m committed.”
As with all city managers, Williams serves at the will of the commission and can be terminated at any time.
Her employment contract expires on April 1, 2029.
If she were terminated before then, the city would be obligated to give 60 days’ notice and provide 20 weeks of severance pay, close to $140,000.
Williams has already received an automatic cost of living increase, increasing her salary from $350,000 to $360,500.
But Tuesday night, the mayor joined Herbst and Glassman in denying Williams a customary 3% merit increase, which would have increased her pay by $10,815.
“This is completely disrespectful,” Beasley-Pittman said.
At that point, Trantalis noted the tension in the room and suggested the commission take a five-minute recess.
When the commission returned to the dais, Trantalis suggested Williams be placed on probation for six months to see whether relationships improve.
Sorensen argued that would be bad for the city — and for Williams and her leadership.
Trantalis responded to a remark he heard minutes earlier from someone in the room who shouted out right as the commission took a recess.
Someone screamed out the words “a Black woman,” implying racial or gender bias, Trantalis said.
“Let me just tell you something,” he said. “Dean Trantlais voted for Rickelle to be our city manager. I didn’t care about her gender. I didn’t care about her race. And tonight I don’t care about her gender and I don’t care about her race.”
He continued on.
“Everything is based on merit,” Trantalis said. “Tonight when we speak, we’re speaking about merit. We’re speaking about performance. And we’re speaking about expectations. Trust us, there are shortfalls in what’s been happening. We’re not making this stuff up.”
Before the recess, Williams appealed to the commission to let her stay in the job.
She reminded them of the long hours she works and the fact that she has purchased a home in Fort Lauderdale, as required by the charter.
“I do not just keep the lights on,” she said. “I push Fort Lauderdale forward. And I have taken that approach since day one. And I will work to address any of these concerns. I will continue to be dedicated to this city and to giving my all.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan