Deerfield City Manager Reinstated after Hundreds Attend Meeting
Sun Sentinel
May 19, 2005
By Susannah Bryan & Jeremy Milarsky
Staff Writers
DEERFIELD BEACH -- Embattled City Manager Larry Deetjen will keep his $145,000-a-year job after all.
In a 3-2 vote taken after 1 a.m. today, commissioners voted to reinstate Deetjen nearly a month after voting 4-1 to suspend him.
Mayor Al Capellini, who opposed the suspension, voted to reinstate Deetjen, as did Commissioners Sylvia Poitier and Marty Popelsky. Vice Mayor Steve Gonot, who led the charge to dismiss Deetjen, and Commissioner Pam Militello dissented.
After Tuesday's vote, supporters swarmed Deetjen, shaking his hand and showering him with hugs. Poitier smiled and said, "It's over! It's over! It's over!"
Jon Rosenthal, an attorney for Deetjen, said Deetjen planned to start work first thing this morning. "He's anxious to get back to his desk," Rosenthal said.
Commissioners made their decision after hearing from Deetjen's attorneys and more than 50 people who either spoke up for Deetjen or urged his termination.
More than 300 people had lined up inside and outside City Hall Tuesday night, drawn by the controversy over Deetjen's fate.
When Deetjen entered City Hall, his supporters cheered as he took a seat in the front row next to his attorneys.
In a meeting that lasted more than six hours, Deetjen fought for his job during a raucous and tense public meeting marked by boos, heckling and applause. At least 10 Broward Sheriffs deputies kept watch, at one point removing a heckler who had interrupted the proceedings.
Early on, Tom Connick, attorney for the Original Save Our Beach group, was called as a witness by Militello. Connick referred to correspondence discovered on Deetjen's computer, and argued that the embattled manager shared confidential information with another lawyer who is suing the city over development issues.
"You had here in City Hall [the plaintiffs] best weapon in this case, Mr. Deetjen," Connick said.
Capellini defended Deetjen, saying he and the city's previous elected officials did not give the city manager clear direction on how the city should handle the lawsuit. Deetjen himself said his bosses indicated he should not fight the lawsuit.
"My firm position is that I was doing my duty to the commission," Deetjen said.
Since Deetjen's suspension on April 19, his defenders have joined Capellini in accusing Gonot of conducting a witch hunt. Gonot has said Deetjen should be fired, and he persuaded three of his colleagues to suspend the manager. Only Capellini opposed the move.
Considered a talented manager by both critics and supporters, Deetjen has handled the day-to-day administration at City Hall for 11 years.
After his suspension last month, Deetjen surrendered his keys to City Hall and asked for a hearing to refute the charges of insubordination and inappropriate conduct. Deetjen has clashed with some commissioners in the past, but tensions came to a head in early April, when he and Gonot argued in the city manager's office about whether Deetjen's wife should resign from a community improvement board. The tiff ended when Deetjen threatened to have a deputy remove the commissioner. Gonot left before the deputy arrived.
Later, three members of the commission said the incident was a clincher in their decision to suspend Deetjen. But on Tuesday evening, some of the city manager's advocates depicted the situation as a personality conflict between Deetjen and Gonot.
"What began as a confrontation between the city manager and a commissioner has ignited a firestorm," said Myles Malman, an attorney for Deetjen.
Had he been fired, Deetjen would have received an 18-month severance package worth more than $350,000. Deetjen's contract does not require commissioners to find an official reason to fire him.
Before the city's March elections, Gonot and Deetjen squabbled over whether Gonot had pilfered numbers of free weekly newspapers or took just 10. The paper had printed an endorsement of Gonot's election opponent.
Tuesday's marathon meeting followed a much briefer gathering the night before. Commissioners had planned to consider reinstating Deetjen, but were forced to adjourn when Commissioner Sylvia Poitier stayed at home. Poitier later explained she wanted to wait until Tuesday before deciding whether to fire Deetjen.
