Indiantown formalizes interim Village manager position | Martin County

INDIANTOWN – The Indiantown Village Council majority voted Sept. 10 to award an open-ended employee contract with severance pay to a man its members appointed just nine days prior as acting Village manager during an eye-opening special meeting on Sept. 1 after a different majority fired Village Manager Taryn Kryzda without warning and without cause.

The new interim manager, Michael Giardino, had previously begun work as the Stuart City manager on April 27, but fell victim to a major shift in that city’s board after the August Primary Election.

The same election toppled the apple cart even farther in Indiantown, with three new Council members swept into office on a wave of data center fear after long-term City Attorney Wade Vose had advised against imposing a moratorium last June and the Council concurred.

As far as Giardino, he’d only served the City of Stuart as manager for a scant few months until that Commission gave him the boot on Aug. 24. Vose had already tendered his resignation by the Sept. 1 meeting, admitting that night that he couldn’t feasibly represent the Village in a potential lawsuit after recommending against a moratorium. Kryzda herself had no idea what was about to transpire that evening because the purpose of the meeting was to vote on a new interim attorney and direct staff to draft a moratorium resolution.

After doing so, newly elected Councilman Anthony Dowling dropped the bomb by making a motion to cancel Kryzda’s contract, which was seconded by newly elected Councilwoman Janet Hernandez.

It passed 3-2, with Mayor Phyllis Waters-Brown and Councilwoman Vernestine Williams-Palmer dissenting. Although neither Dowling nor Hernandez acknowledged having collaborating on Kryzda’s removal on the campaign trail like a Stuart commissioner and a candidate did with Giardino’s firing, both did call Giardino separately on Sept. 1 and invited him to that evening’s meeting, suggesting they might have a position for him.

Fast-forward nine days later, and the meeting began with Giardino at the helm and Janette Smith – a colleague of Vose – serving as interim attorney. Smith began the discussion with an apology after Mayor Waters-Brown announced a resolution formalizing Giardino’s temporary position.

“I did not know there was a resolution for the interim village manager,” she said. “Otherwise I would have had a resolution for you. If you review the item and have the discussion, it could be completed by a motion, similar to how you hired our firm bringing us in as the interim village attorney.”

Smith pointed out that Giardino was requesting Kryzda’s contracted $163,904 salary and benefits, some of which got initial pushback from the mayor and others.

“We’ve only had one interim manager before,” Waters-Brown said in reference to Kryzda. “She was not given a contract for a while. I would like for him to be paid biweekly without the severance, and I would love for it not to be a contract. I would like an request for proposals – that’s what we talked about last week – and encourage the acting village manager to apply for that position.”

Council member Dowling immediately chimed in.

“The only thing I would recommend is scratching the 20 weeks’ severance,” he said. “Everything else looks fine for me.”

“What happened to wanting an RFP,” Mayor Waters-Brown asked him.

“Oh yeah, of course this is interim,” Dowling answered. “We want to do the RFP like we discussed last week. If that’s the process we go to, he can reapply.”

Councilwoman Hernandez sided with Dowling, also opposing any severance pay for Giardino.

“We scratch out the severance, we keep the contract [and[ it’d be a binding contract,” she said. “I do think the RFP for the village manager should not be that quick because we have a lot of things going on. I think we should start talking about that probably in six months.”

After Vice-Mayor Christa Miley – the other newly elected Council member – also agreed with Councilman Dowling, Giardino himself threw a wrench in the works by insisting he needed some kind of severance or a reduction in the resignation period.

“If severance is off the table and I’m still having to give you 60 days’ notice, that’s hard for a future employer to have to wait two months before I’m allowed to come work if this doesn’t work out,” he said. “I want this to work out. If we don’t do severance, can we meet somewhere where those days can be reduced? Or if it doesn’t work out on your end, maybe a couple weeks of severance.”

Vice-Mayor Miley still wanted to be more generous.

“How about if we reduce from 60 to 30 days’ notice, and instead of 20 weeks [severance], we do 10?” she asked.

Councilman Dowling still balked with part of that.

“I would agree with the 30 days,” he said. “I just haven’t landed on any severance at all because of the interim title.”

After Concilwoman Hernadez questioned the interim attorney if severance was ever given to interim positions, Smith emphasized that all contracts were negotiated.

“I believe what you’re doing now is providing a counter-offer,” she said. “At the end of the day whatever you decide as the Council would be legally binding.”

Councilwoman Hernadez then flip-flopped on the severance issue.

“I concur with Vice-Mayor Miley in regards of her last offer,” she said.

Councilman Dowling informed his colleagues that the severance issue was “a hard line” for him, but after further conversation with Giardano, he crossed it himself.

“Would everyone be okay with the 30 days and eight weeks’ severance?” he asked his fellow Council members. “That’s a compromise from none at all.”

Miley, however, wanted to stay with 10 weeks’ severance. Sensing a potential stalemate, the interim Village manager counter-offered again.

“I will accept eight weeks severance and those terms right now,” he said.

That was followed by public speakers Eric Miller and Kelsey Lea-Hing – who had both voraciously opposed data centers – now urging the Board to give Giardino the contract and severance pay. Fellow Linda Nycum held the opposite view, however.

“You’re going to be taking applications and comparing this gentleman with other applicants,” she said. “I don’t see why you would want to lock yourselves in with a contract when you know you may decide to go with one of them. Then you’re locked in with severance, etc. I don’t think putting the RFP off for six months makes any sense.”

The Village Council then voted 4-1, with Mayor Waters-Brown dissenting, to approve the contract with 30 days’ notice and eight weeks of severance. They also voted unanimously to issue the RFP for a permanent Village manager in six months.