Deetjen: Chastened or Emboldened?
Sun Sentinel
May 19, 2005
Michael Mayo
News Columnist
Ask most people to name their city manager, the response you'll most likely get is: Don't Know, Don't Care, or Jack McKeon.
Things are obviously different in Deerfield Beach.
It seems everyone there knows who Larry Deetjen is, and everyone has an opinion about him. Me, I had no opinion before showing up for a marathon six-hour commission meeting that ended with Deetjen being reinstated early Wednesday morning.
But after watching this ego-laden power struggle that seemed equal parts junior high juvenile and grand-theme operatic, I wondered if this guy was really an administrator, or a cutthroat politician in wonk's clothes.
And I wondered if this would end up emboldening Deetjen, not chastening him.
After all, he survived. And he flexed some pretty heavy muscle in doing so.
Elected by no one, Deetjen seemed the most powerful person in the room.
With the job he's held for 11 years on the line, he marshaled a full-out assault to keep it.
Me, I would have just taken the $350,000 severance package and run, especially after vice Mayor Steve Gonot engineered what looked like a swift coup last month.
But Deetjen and his allies apparently have too much invested in the job to let him go without a fight. Power, ego and testosterone seemed part of the mix.
After four or five commissioners voted to suspend Deetjen last month, he fought back. The business community rallied to Deetjen's side, and so did supporters from Century Village, where his longtime ally Amadeo "Trinchi" Trinchitella was based.
Trinchitella, a political powerbroker and longtime Deerfield commissioner, died in February, but his spirit was in the air at a packed City Hall on Tuesday.
So was the aura of big money. Lobbyist-lawyer Michael Moskowitz was on hand, telling me he'd been hired by the business community to fight for Deetjen's retention.
The pressure was enough to persuade two commissioners to switch sides. When Wednesday's 1 a.m. vote came around, Sylvia Poitier and Martin Popelsky, Trinchitella's successor from Century Village, jumped back into Deetjen's corner, joining Mayor Al Capellini.
Gonot and rookie Commissioner Pam Militello were the big losers.
After the 3-2 vote, Trinchitella's son Louis wrapped Deetjen in a bear hug and bellowed, "Even in death my father wins. Even in death!"
Said Gonot, "This is going to be tough, I can't deny that."
After the vote, Deetjen talked about healing and being a team player. He said he'd do whatever his commission bosses wanted, including giving them weekly bundles of all his memos and correspondence.
He even shook hands with Gonot. Over the past two months, t heir feud was personal, pretty and ugly. Accusations flew over matters such as pilfered newspapers, interference in police matters and inappropriate dealing with a lawyer suing the city.
Before casting her vote, Poitier said, "Let's get on with business of this body and start acting like adults."
But this wasn't just a personality conflict. It also involved a citizen backlash against overdevelopment and business influence, and Deetjen's perceived abuse of authority and arrogance. It pointed to the pitfalls of a government where an administrator can act like a king after too many years on the job.
Usually, professional administrators are content to blend into the background and follow their bosses, the governing bodies elected by voters.
But Deetjen comes from and aggressive, charismatic breed of manager, the type who drives the bus, occasionally chucks the map and takes a few detours while commissioners are napping in the back.
One of Deetjen's attorneys, Myles Malman, spoke of Deerfield Beach being "rudderless" without Deetjen and quoted a city employee as saying, "Give us our captain back."
"Nobody is indispensible," Gonot said. "But a lot of people have been made to believe Larry is."
With Deetjen back and most commissioners behind him, you wonder if anything will change. After surviving this storm, Captain Larry looks just as large and just as in charge.
