Fort Pierce selects headhunter for city attorney search | St. Lucie County

FORT PIERCE — A City Commission vote to hire a search firm for Fort Pierce’s next city attorney reopened divisions over the Commission’s decision not to renew City Attorney Sarah Hedges’ contract.

During its July 20 meeting, the Commission voted 3-1 to hire S. Renée Narloch & Associates to conduct the search, but the discussion quickly returned to the controversy that began in April over the roles of the city’s charter officers.

That dispute started April 20, when Commissioner Chris Dzadovsky questioned whether Hedges had exceeded the advisory role of the city attorney by directing City Manager Richard Chase not to seek advice from outside counsel and by requesting the suspension of Finance Director Johnna Morris over a wage garnishment issue. Morris was later reinstated.

“The city attorney role — in my opinion — is advisory in nature and does not carry independent authority over administrative or operational decisions,” Dzadovsky said during the April meeting. “The city manager is the decision-maker for this city.”

The disagreement eventually led to formal agenda items and, on June 8, a 3-2 vote not to renew Hedges’ annual contract. Mayor Linda Hudson and Commissioner Michael Broderick opposed the move, noting Hedges had already submitted her resignation effective Dec. 31. The majority instead allowed her contract to expire Sept. 15.

Hedges, who was promoted to city attorney in September 2023, had received positive performance evaluations before the dispute.

At the July 20 meeting, Human Resources Director Jared Sorensen presented proposals from three executive search firms.

Colin Baenziger & Associates submitted a proposal of $34,500 with a projected 12-week timeline. GovHR USA/MGT proposed $28,000 but added $1,200 for each onsite visit, bringing the estimated total to $31,600. S. Renée Narloch & Associates proposed $30,950, including three onsite visits or virtual meetings and a projected 16-week search.

Sorensen recommended Narloch & Associates.

Commissioner Arnold Gaines asked about the firm’s timeline.

“She’s 16 weeks,” Sorensen replied.

“Good luck with that,” Broderick responded.

Dzadovsky noted that the timetable could be shortened if a qualified candidate is identified sooner.

Sorensen agreed and raised another issue — whether the city should appoint an interim attorney while the search is underway.

Dzadovsky said that should remain an option.

“I believe there’s an opportunity for an interim attorney, whether it’s for the final outcome or a transition period,” he said. “I think Ms. Narloch could also be looking for someone to be an interim in the same vein.”

Broderick opposed both the search and the possibility of hiring an interim attorney.

“I don’t agree with any of this decision — everybody’s aware of that,” he said. “This is the first downstroke of $31,000 that the city’s going to incur in costs, among damages and other things of this nature. This is going to become a very costly ordeal.”

“The majority,” Dzadovsky interjected.

“The majority’s going to own these decisions moving forward,” Broderick replied.

Although Gaines supported not renewing Hedges’ contract, he questioned whether bringing in an interim attorney made sense.

“I’m not having an interim and then come back in,” Gaines said. “That’d be three attorneys in four or five months. I think we let the search team do their job.”

Hudson expressed concern that the city could be without legal representation after Hedges’ contract expires Sept. 15 if the search extends into the fall.

“We’re going to be without a city attorney for three months,” Hudson said. “I’m very concerned about that because a lot of work comes out of that office.”

The discussion then shifted back to the reasons for the Commission’s earlier decision.

Broderick argued that what began as a disagreement over charter authority evolved into criticism of Hedges herself.

“This original issue with Ms. Hedges was in theory a charter conflict between the city manager’s office and the city attorney’s office,” Broderick said. “The charter is the real issue here, but then it shifted to a personality attack on Ms. Hedges and her quality of work.”

Dzadovsky disagreed, saying the contract review simply followed the initial dispute.

“The situation occurred when there was a conflict between two charter officers — I brought that forward,” he said. “It then transformed into looking at the contracts. The reason why it got brought up was not to fire her. This was simply moving in a direction in which the Commission majority voted not to renew the contract.”

Hudson said the underlying disagreement over charter responsibilities remains unresolved.

“This did start out as a charter dispute,” she said. “I think we all need to be clear on what our charter says so we can follow the charter.”

The Commission ultimately approved the contract with S. Renée Narloch & Associates on a 3-1 vote, with Broderick dissenting. Commissioner Curtis Johnson Jr. was absent.

Hometown News submitted a public records request July 24 seeking documents related to the charter officer roles and responsibilities but had not received a response by press time.