- High Springs City Manager Jeremy Marshall was fired after a settlement paying him $15,000 for accrued leave and waiving a 90-day notice period.
- Marshall was placed on leave in July due to financial mismanagement and inexperience before the City Commission approved his termination.
- Jennifer Applebee became interim city manager with a $97,000 salary and the city sought help from state associations to expedite the manager search.
High Springs City Manager Jeremy Marshall was officially fired Thursday after the City Commission approved a settlement that immediately severs his employment.
City Attorney Kiersten Ballou said the settlement serves as a resignation for Marshall and waives the 90-day notice requirement. Marshall will be paid around $15,000 during the next pay period to cover all remaining accrued leave and unused paid time off.
The settlement also includes a mutual release so that neither party can sue the other.
Marshall deserved nothing less than termination and the city had all the cause in the world to do so, according to Commissioner Tristan Grunder. He said firing Marshall would be justified given what the city saw during his tenure and all that’d been revealed since.
But Grunder said agreeing to the settlement would prevent them from getting stuck in a frivolous and expensive lawsuit that would only raise insurance rates for an attorney next year.
“We’re either going to pay him $15,000 tonight to go away, or we’re going to pay him $15,000 over the next six weeks to go away and terminate him,” Grunder said. “If we can just get this signed and get him gone, in my opinion that is the best thing we can do tonight for the citizens of High Springs.”
The City Commission placed Marshall on leave in July, citing financial mismanagement and inexperience.
The open seat added to a slew of High Springs staff shuffling, including Leslie Moyer installed as the new finance director in June after Marshall fired Diane Wilson in January, and High Springs Fire Chief Joseph Peters’ transitioned to part-time on July 5.
The commission voted this month for the city attorney to negotiate the settlement, which identified multiple reasons for the termination: failure to direct and supervise administration for city departments, inform the commission of administrative activities, the financial condition of the city and future needs, and failure to maximize financial revenues necessary to sustain the city.
High Springs Parks and Recreation Director Jennifer Applebee has been serving as interim city manager since Marshall’s leave. The commission voted Thursday to bump up her salary to $97,000, the minimum paid to incoming city managers, for as long as she’s in the interim position.
Applebee quoted Dolly Parton: “We can’t just hope for a brighter day; we have to work for a brighter day.” She assured the citizens that staff were diligently working for a brighter day and invited them to join.
“I’m here to work for as long as you need me,” Applebee said. “I’d like to ask the citizens of High Springs to help us flip the algorithm. If you guys can join us and let’s help recruit the city manager that we want in this seat.”
The City Commission also voted to request senior advisors from the Florida City and County Management Association to help in the city manager search process.
Ballou said the service paired High Springs with retired city and county managers who help with the placement process, determine qualifications, compensation and position requirements and review recommended candidates all free of charge.
The Florida League of Cities will also advertise the open city manager position for free. The commissioners said they all hoped to spend less than the six to seven months it took during the previous transition in the role.
“There is a lot of work that goes into finding a city manager, and as you all know, your staff is strapped right now,” Ballou said. “So any assistance we can get, I think, is certainly something to look into.”