The Bunnell City Commission voted Monday to terminate the contract of City Manager Dan Davis
BUNNELL — The City Commission voted 3-1 Monday night to fire City Manager Dan Davis, who had been in the job since Christmas Eve 2015 and had shepherded the city through the aftermath of two hurricanes.
“It was a really hard thing to do,” said Commissioner John Sowell, who made the motion to terminate Davis’ contract.
Voting with Sowell were Mayor Catherine Robinson and Vice Mayor John Rogers. Commissioner Elbert Tucker dissented. Commissioner Bill Baxley was absent.
While commissioners didn’t discuss severance pay, Robinson said she thought there would be some.
Tucker said he voted against the motion because he felt “it was not the right thing to do.”
Davis had worked as city clerk from 2009 to 2013. After a year away from the city, he returned in September 2014 as deputy city clerk. Before working in Bunnell, he had worked as records manager, deputy city clerk and land acquisition manager for the city of Palm Coast.
His salary at the time of termination was $71,261.
Prior to the vote Monday, commissioners delivered the results of Davis’s annual performance review. The ratings were combined from individual evaluations by each commissioner and hovered around average, though he exceeded expectations in about a fifth of the criteria.
Davis was just about to complete a six-month probation, which the commission imposed in October.
Sowell said he had tried to be supportive of Davis, but later reassessed his opinion.
“I was probably one of the strongest supporters he had,” Sowell said by phone Tuesday.
Enumerating his reasons for deciding to terminate the city manager's contract, Sowell cited Davis’s “sharp” opposition to a tax-rate reduction proposed by Sowell, ongoing divisions among the city staff, and Davis’s handling of the firefighter pension fund in the wake of the merger with county fire services last year.
“I didn’t make up my mind until a couple of days ago,” Sowell said.
Both he and Robinson cited a need to hire a city manager they feel can lead the city into the future.
Bunnell is poised for what some might call long-overdue growth in the coming five years. Robinson mentioned the 700-home Grand Reserve development, a 240-apartment complex planned for the city, and “eight other projects on the drawing board.”
“It’s now,” she said. “It’s happening.”
Without specifically referring to Davis, she said the city needs expertise to address issues that such growth will bring.
“We need someone who’s been through the experience,” she said, “someone who’s been there.”