The intent and interpretation of an email sent to supporters of Vice Mayor Todd Weaver became a subject of debate at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting. The email, titled “Stepping Down,” was sent on Feb. 3 and expressed thanks while explaining Weaver’s reasons for reconsidering his future on the commission.
At the time, Weaver had not submitted a formal letter of resignation to the city, but spoke to the Orlando Sentinel and cited time constraints between his business and city responsibilities.
On Monday, Feb. 6, Weaver sent an email to the32789 explaining his intent to remain on City Commission. “I’ve decided to make some changes both at City Hall and with my personal schedule that will allow me to remain on the City Commission serving the city we love,” he wrote. However, Mayor Phil Anderson expressed concern as to the commission’s role in deciding how the emails should be interpreted.
“Did the letter constitute a resignation and is the effective date and time when the letter went out?”
Commissioners posed questions to City Attorney Kurt Ardaman regarding Weaver’s status, and if they had the authority to vote on accepting resignation or confirming reinstatement. Ardaman deferred to, and read, section 2.03 of the City Charter.
“City Commission shall be the judge of the qualification of its own members, subject to review by the courts,” he read. “Given that, the commission, in my opinion, has the authority to make that determination.”
“The letter I sent out was just a notification to supporters and I figured it was a courtesy,” said Weaver. “Nowhere in the letter did it say that I am resigning, or that I had resigned.”
Commissioner Marty Sullivan made a motion to keep Weaver on the commission and not regard the email as a resignation, but Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio seconded a motion by Mayor Anderson to wait for an opinion from the Human Resources Attorney.
“This needs to be done – for Vice Mayor Weaver’s sake and for this entire commission’s sake – the right way, so no one can allege there was any bias, or any wrongdoing by anybody,” said DeCiccio.
Anderson’s motion passed by a 3-2 vote and a special meeting was scheduled for Feb. 15. Opinions from the Human Resources Attorney will be heard at that time.
The Wednesday meeting agenda proceeded with the understanding that any item receiving a deciding vote, cast by Weaver, would require another vote if his status was impacted at the Feb. 15 meeting. However, no such vote occurred.
