Councilman Charles Goodman complained of being left out of city manager negotiations by the mayor and resigned as council president. (File Photo by Terry Witt)

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Williston Mayor Jerry Robinson confirmed Thursday that the number one ranked candidate for city manager has turned down a four-year contract offer from the city for an $85,000 annual salary.

            Robinson said Andrew E. Hyatt of Ponte Vedra Beach told him he was a finalist for a job in South Florida and decided not to accept Williston’s offer to serve as the city’s top administrator.

            Hyatt had served as city manager of four cities over a 20 year period and held a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, according to his résumé.

            News that Hyatt turned down the contract came two days after Councilman Charles Goodman resigned as president of the council and condemned the mayor for negotiating a contract with Hyatt without consulting him.

            Goodman resigned at the Sept. 15 council meeting and walked out. The remaining council members reconvened the meeting on advice of City Attorney Fred Koberlein and asked Robinson to present the final contract to Hyatt.

            Hyatt had turned down an earlier offer from the city for a $77,500 annual salary when Goodman and Robinson were talking to him as a team. Goodman said he was returning from the Veterans Hospital in Gainesville when he learned Robinson had made an $85,000 offer to Hyatt without his knowledge.

            “I feel it is a breach of ethics at the very least, morally reprehensible and I am very, very, very upset about it,” Goodman said.

            City council members will meet in their next regular board meeting Tuesday to consider what to do next with regard to hiring a city manager. They have three remaining finalists on the list who haven’t been offered the job.

            Police Chief Dennis Strow remains the interim city manager.

            Goodman surprised many in the council room when he veered away from discussing a city manager and focused instead on ending what he called “racism” in the community.

            “We must promise every citizen that we will work tirelessly and transparently to eradicate racism in our community so that every citizen is able to pursue their dreams and goals in a safe, unified community that recognizes an individual based on their contributions to the community and does not discriminate against them because of the color of their skin,” he said.

            He said he encourages “an open and full discussion and a peaceful meeting of mind and hearts to heal the wounds festering in our community.”

            He briefly discussed Black Lives Matter, a national movement aimed at ending what organizers allege is systemic racism in American society and racially motivated murders of black men by police.

            “Black Lives Matter and there are tragic consequences to so many not understanding that,” Goodman said. “When I see Black Lives Matter, it does not mean Blue Lives don’t matter.”

            One city official said Goodman was responding to a statement on television by the mayor, who, when asked if black lives mattered, responded “all lives mattered.”

            Goodman, on the subject of hiring a city manager, said the mayor overstepped his boundaries as an elected official when he negotiated a contract with the city manager candidate without authority to do so.

            Councilwoman Debra Jones responded that Goodman was absent from the council meeting when the final two candidates were interviewed for the city manager position. She said the council instructed Robinson to negotiate with Hyatt, their top choice.

            In the Sept. 15 meeting, Goodman made the motion to present Hyatt with the final contract offer but voted in opposition to the motion he made and Jones seconded. The vote was 4-1 to offer Hyatt the contract.

            At that point, he announced he was giving up his position as council president.

            “I have one last announcement. Your next council meeting is on the 22^nd. I hereby tender my resignation as the council president,” Goodman said. “I will try to attempt to continue to serve on the council, but I will not serve as the president as long as this man is mayor. This meeting is adjourned.”

            The meeting was reconvened and Robinson was assigned the job of presenting the final contract to Hyatt.

            It was all for naught.

            Hyatt turned it down.

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City of Williston Emergency Meeting September 15, 2020; Posted September 17, 2020