Tallahassee commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a five-year contract for incoming City Manager Karen Jumonville, including a $317,000 salary, $1,000 monthly vehicle allowance and controversial provision requiring four of five commissioners to support her removal.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Tallahassee’s next city manager will start Oct. 1 with a $317,000 annual salary and an unusual layer of job protection, after a sharply divided City Commission approved Karen Jumonville’s five-year employment contract Wednesday.
Commissioners approved the agreement 3-2, with Mayor John Dailey, Mayor Pro Tem Curtis Richardson and Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox supporting it. Commissioners Jeremy Matlow and Jack Porter opposed it.
The most contentious provision was not Jumonville’s salary.
It was a requirement that four of the five city commissioners — rather than a simple three-vote majority — agree to remove her, a change that triggered questions about accountability, the City Charter and how much authority a future commission will have over Tallahassee’s top administrator.
$317,000 salary, five-year deal
Dailey negotiated the contract after commissioners selected Jumonville last week following a national search.
The agreement runs from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2031.
Jumonville’s $317,000 starting salary is the amount current City Manager Reese Goad would have been earning Oct. 1, according to Dailey.
“Not a penny more, not a penny less,” Dailey said.
The contract also includes:
20 weeks of severance pay
A $1,000-per-month automobile allowance
City contributions to a 457 retirement account
A five-year term
The two-thirds supermajority requirement for termination
Dailey said the vehicle allowance means Jumonville will be responsible for her own fuel, insurance and maintenance rather than using a city fleet vehicle.
Four votes required to remove city manager
The supermajority provision dominated the debate.
Dailey strongly defended it, saying requiring four commissioners to agree on a termination would help depoliticize the city manager’s position.
“This is something that I personally will take full ownership of and I strongly believe in,” Dailey said.
Williams-Cox agreed, arguing Tallahassee needs stability as it enters an election that will bring a new mayor and could change the composition of the commission.
“We cannot govern our community by campaigns,” Williams-Cox said. “We’ve got to govern them by the stability of what residents expect us to have.”
Richardson also supported the requirement.
“I would feel comfortable if a supermajority were required because it suggests to this community that four people, four people out of the five agree that this person needs to be removed from office,” Richardson said.
City attorney: Charter is silent, legal answer isn’t clear
The debate took a significant turn when commissioners asked City Attorney Amy Toman whether the supermajority provision is legal.
Toman said the City Charter does not explicitly address whether a simple or supermajority vote is required in this situation.
She said the default interpretation of the charter’s silence would likely point toward a simple majority, and Tallahassee’s historical practice also suggests commission actions are generally taken by simple majority.
But she stopped short of saying the contract provision is illegal.
Toman said another interpretation is that because the charter does not explicitly prohibit the requirement, the commission could potentially establish it as a contractual employment term under its home-rule authority.
She also pointed to recent examples in Fernandina Beach and Marathon where local governments approved executive contracts containing supermajority removal provisions, while stressing those examples have not been tested in court.
Porter: Keep majority rule
Porter offered a compromise.
She proposed approving the rest of Jumonville’s contract while changing the termination provision back to a simple majority.
Porter said she was willing to accept other parts of an agreement she had concerns about — including the salary — if commissioners removed the supermajority requirement.
“I’m willing to support a contract today,” Porter said. “With a simple majority for termination.”
Matlow seconded the proposal.
It failed 3-2.
Matlow: What happens if three commissioners want manager gone?
Matlow argued the provision could create a fundamental accountability problem.
He questioned what would happen if three commissioners directed the city manager to take an action and the manager refused, but the same three-member majority lacked the fourth vote necessary to terminate the manager under the contract.
“You would have a completely unaccountable city management that would require four votes to terminate for not following the direction of the majority of the body,” Matlow said.
Toman said a future commission could potentially act with a 3-2 majority to end the contract, but doing so could constitute a breach of the supermajority provision, potentially giving the manager contractual claims against the city.
Those damages could include severance and potentially other recoverable costs, she said.
That leaves an important legal question unresolved: A future three-member majority might still have the governmental authority to remove the manager, but doing so could potentially expose taxpayers to a breach-of-contract claim.
Residents challenge salary, timing and accountability
The contract also drew substantial public opposition.
Residents questioned the $317,000 salary, $1,000 monthly vehicle allowance, five-year term and timing of the agreement just weeks before Tallahassee voters choose a new mayor.
Several speakers urged commissioners to wait until after the election or remove the supermajority provision.
One resident argued that if a city manager cannot maintain the support of three of five commissioners, the manager should not remain in the position. Another warned the contract could bind future elected officials to decisions made by the current commission.
Not everyone opposed moving forward.
Cheryl Collier Brown told commissioners the selection had already been made and it was time for the city to move ahead.
“The selection has been done,” Brown said. “We need to move on.”
Jumonville takes over Oct. 1
The contract approval completes a major step in Tallahassee’s leadership transition.
Goad announced his retirement in April, launching a national search that ultimately produced three finalists. Commissioners selected Jumonville last week after interviews and presentations from the candidates.
Jumonville, currently a deputy city manager, has spent 27 years working for the City of Tallahassee.
Goad will remain city manager through Sept. 30, taking the city through its current budget cycle. Jumonville takes over the following day — the first day of Tallahassee’s new fiscal year.
Dailey said he would execute the contract with Jumonville following Wednesday’s vote.