Bronson maintenance worker Glen Smith quits his job in front of the town council.

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

                A piece of drama played out at the conclusion of the Bronson Town Council meeting Monday that threw board members a curveball they never saw coming.

            Town maintenance worker Glen Smith walked into the back of the council chambers after conferring outside with Public Works Director Curtis Stacy and announced he was quitting.

            “This is my last day,” Smith said.

            “For what?” asked Mayor Beatrice Roberts.

            “Working,” responded Smith. “It’s just too much, it’s too much. Council members came in here and lied about me. I’m trying to better myself, trying not to lash out at people. That’s why I just keep to myself.”

            He didn’t name the council members.

            Smith looked over at his wife and daughter and said they meant more to him than anything else.

            “I must take care of them. By me being here, it’s not working. I’ve tried. I’ve got down and talked to Curtis. I prayed. It’s not getting to where I need to get,” Smith said.

            “No two weeks? You just quit today?” said Councilman Jason Hunt.

            “I’m sorry,” said Roberts. “I didn’t even see that one coming. That was a curve ball.”

            Smith said there are a lot of things going on in town government that people don’t see, “that comes to me.”

            Roberts said she never tries to look at the negative. She always tries to see the positive.

            Smith said there’s a reason the council never sees him at board meetings. If he had come to council meetings, Smith said he would have “lashed out a long time ago.”

            Smith was denied a pay raise because he hadn’t obtained a water certification Hunt said he had promised to earn. The denial of the raise happened about a year ago.

            When Smith left the meeting, Stacy told the council what was said when Smith asked him to step outside.

            “When he called me outside he said he hadn’t had a raise in three years. I told him I asked the council for a raise and you all (the council) were trying to work it out,” Stacy said. “I think he’s got another job that’s going to pay him more.”

            Councilman Berlon Weeks said Smith should do whatever he needs to do to better himself. Weeks’ motion to advertise for a public works employee with a water certification was unanimously approved.

            Stacy said the loss of Smith comes at a “really bad time.”

            Smith’s co-worker in public works, Russell Mitchem, was seriously injured when he was rear-ended by truck at a stop sign on County Road 337 a couple of months ago. The town doesn’t know when he might return to work.

            Stacy said he was learning things from Smith, and now he’s gone. Councilman Aaron Edmondson said Stacy will just have to figure it out.

            In Other Business:

• The council approved a hardship variance for Ray Samec of Flying Pig Development that will allow him to replat a piece of property he owns on Main Street and subdivide it for housing. Samec ran into serious problems with his project when he couldn’t get a straight answer out of SAFEbilt, the company handling the town’s building and zoning issues. Town Attorney Steven Warm negotiated a compromise to let Samec develop the property.
• Roberts announced that there will be a community cleanup of Coulter Cemetery in front of the former Bronson School on School Street. The former school is now The Levy County Annex. She said the cleanup will occur on Saturday, Aug. 29 beginning at 9 a.m. Roberts said Toni Collins, president of the Levy County Historical Society, has arranged for the cleanup. She said the historical society also wants to put a gate on the side of the cemetery facing Capitol Street. The only cemetery entrance now empties onto private property. The town has locked the existing gate to keep foot traffic off the private property.
• The council moved its next council meeting from Aug. 18 to 7 p.m. on Aug. 24.  Aug. 18 is Election Day. The council also approved its next budget workshop for 5 p.m. on Aug. 11. The council approved the date of its final budget hearing for 5:01 p.m. on Sept. 28.
• Deputy Clerk Melisa Thompson has mailed an application for a $50,000 state grant. The Florida Recreational Development Assistance Program grant would pay for a playground renovation, baseball field renovation, development of an exercise trail and bicycle trail, a bleacher renovation, purchase of a new set of bleachers, and a restroom renovation. Roberts said the town is awaiting a response from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. She said the town failed to apply for the Phase IV grant.

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Town of Bronson Regular Meeting August 3, 2020; Posted August 3, 2020