Recor Remains By 3 to 2 Vote

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/19/anthony-westbury-after-recor-vote-what-now/?print=1

Anthony Westbury: After Recor vote, what now?

By Anthony Westbury

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

You could have heard a pin drop in the Fort Pierce City Commission chambers Monday evening. When, after much back and forth, the City Commission voted 3-2 not to fire City Manager David Recor, an audible gasp rose from the audience.

Their surprise was because for at least an hour we had been given a blow-by-blow account of why Recor should no longer represent the city, first from Commissioner Eddie Becht and then from the rest of the commission.

With the notable exception of Mayor Bob Benton, most of the comments were none too complimentary.

Becht had laid out a detailed dossier of Recor's transgressions and lack of professional judgment. No one item, Becht stressed, was enough to warrant Recor's termination; rather it was the aggregate effect of a lot of things since Recor first arrived as assistant city manager in 2005.

Becht said the succession of errors had caused him to lose confidence in Recor's abilities to lead the city. Recor is not the person he would choose to steer the city back to excellence and to set it on a firmer footing for the future, Becht concluded.

Three of the other four on the dais seemed to agree with Becht, which made the final vote all the more shocking.

Anyway, fascinating live drama as it was, that's all history. What of the future?

That's important because it's difficult to see how the city can move ahead with someone at the helm who has such little backing by the City Commission.

For Becht and Tom Perona (the other vote for termination), future relations with Recor are likely to be prickly at best. All the parties concerned will act in a professional manner on the surface, I'm sure, but there's little doubt there will be a contentious atmosphere, too.

Recor for his part promised to try to do a better job. He said he would take the commission's criticisms to heart and do better in the future. I did not, however, detect much passion or conviction in that response. He was told by Commissioner Reggie Sessions to be "more meek and humble" in his dealings with the commission and the public.

Yet, as Becht pointed out, "We're not asking David to change his shirt. We're asking him to change his character."

Recor, Becht argued, is not the leader he and the city need.

"This is going to be a problem today, tomorrow and in the future," Becht said.

I think he's right, and I was disappointed not to see any passion from Recor about how he really likes working in Fort Pierce or how he's committed to staying.

His "I'll try to do better in the future" line did not seem particularly heartfelt.

I'm concerned that Monday night's decision is likely to create even more uncertainty in what was referred to as a "shaky" environment inside City Hall. I fear the city will continue to meander along rather than having a strong and committed hand at the wheel. I'm fearful that two department heads (both excellent people) named by Becht as possible replacements may face their own retribution problems in the future.

In the past I've disagreed with many of Recor's decisions and been critical of his management style. Yet I did feel some personal sympathy for him, in effect, being flogged in public for his shortcomings.

At the very least, there are a couple of lessons to be learned here. First, the city needs a firm succession plan should the city manager leave or become incapacitated. That would, at least in the short term, remove uncertainties about who's next in line,

Second, several months ago, only two commission members bothered to give Recor a written job performance evaluation. Having some written goals and objectives to work toward might have given him more direction.

I suspect Recor is probably getting his resume ready as we speak. When the time comes, he should leave as gracefully and with the minimum of negative impact on the city as he can.

That in itself would be a worthwhile legacy.

Anthony Westbury is a columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. This column reflects his opinion. For more on St. Lucie County topics, follow his blog at tcpalm.com/westbury. Contact him at 772-409-1320 oranthony.westbury@scripps.com.