A divided Loxahatchee Groves Town Council remains at an impasse on how to settle their town manager dispute, but they agreed to present another counteroffer to attempt to conclude her exit.
The council was updated on the state of negotiations with Town Manager Francine Ramaglia at a special meeting on Thursday, May 21.
Ramaglia, who was placed on administrative leave last month, rejected the council’s previous offer to terminate her without cause, provide 10 weeks of severance pay that included the five weeks she had already received while on administrative leave, and pay any accumulated paid time off.
Unable to reach a consensus, council members agreed to present another counteroffer after hours of indecision.
The council hired attorney Johneeka Simpson from the law firm GrayRobinson to negotiate Ramaglia’s accelerated leave. Ramaglia had previously said that she would be leaving at the end of her current contract in September.
The main contention in negotiations was whether to terminate the town manager’s contract without cause and how many weeks of severance pay she should be entitled to.
Ramaglia’s final counteroffer requested 16 weeks of severance, in addition to administrative leave pay, unused paid time off and the balance of a flexible spending account intended for personal medical expenses. In total, the deal would cost the town $73,367.20 plus $929.73 from her flexible spending account.
Councilwoman Anita Kane began the discussion with a motion to agree to the town manager’s counteroffer to resolve the conflict definitively.
“I think that we should just go ahead and make a motion and pay off the contract because I think the cost of litigating is actually going to be considerably more than $100,000,” she said.
Other council members were not keen on conceding. One option they considered was terminating Ramaglia with cause. Doing so would require an investigation and likely lead to litigation.
While Simpson was not able to go into detail on what specifically would warrant “cause” publicly, she did outline what provisions under the contract that may have been violated, including neglect of duty, violation of any substantive town policy or regulation, which would subject any other town manager to termination, or the commission of any act that involves moral turpitude, or which causes the town disrepute.
Yet, Simpson advised the council that, in her opinion, it would be in the town’s best financial interest to resolve the matter instead of proceeding with other actions.
“It is my recommendation that the town give some thought to her counteroffer and consider the benefits versus the cons of not accepting it, as far as finances are concerned,” she said. “It’s not going to take away from the fact that the town could establish that she could be terminated with cause.”
Terminating with cause requires a supermajority vote from the council. If Ramaglia were to sue, her legal team would have to prove she was terminated wrongly. Any investigation and litigation would be a large expense incurred by the town, whose leaders have been working toward more financial stability.
Councilman Paul Coleman believed that the uncertainty of going to court over the matter was not in the town’s best interest.
“I think we have some circumstantial proof, or we have some stuff that could be interpreted one way or another… but we’re not going to get our lawyer’s fees back,” Coleman said.
Mayor Lisa El-Ramey, who originally proposed placing the town manager on administrative leave, believed there was evidence of alleged impropriety.
“If an attorney who has reviewed the information that was documentable regarding operational and performance matters before an official investigation rises to the level of cause, I think that the council should give that due consideration,” she said.
Halfway through the meeting, council members took a prolonged recess to privately meet with Simpson individually to discuss specifically what could constitute “cause.” While criminality is not required for such action, certain council members were still hesitant.
Those who gave public comment told the council they needed to put personal feelings aside and do what is best for the town.
“You are doing detrimental harm to the town with these actions by continuing to go after somebody and putting your personal feelings in front of the town,” former Councilman Todd McLendon said.
A series of failed motions followed public comment. Kane, who has consistently supported ending the matter as quickly and as cheaply as possible, reiterated to the council that they need to put the matter behind them and move forward.
“It just needs to go away so that everybody can move on with their lives,” Kane said. “Right now, this is sucking the life out of our staff, it’s sucking the life of our townspeople, it’s sucking the life out of me, and all of us up here.”
With the conversation at a deadlock, El-Ramey decided to compromise to come up with another counteroffer. The new motion included terminating Ramaglia without cause, offering 10 weeks of severance and paying accumulated paid time off. Unlike the council’s previous offer, the new motion would not separately include the administrative leave pay as part of the severance package.
Council members passed the motion 4-1, with Vice Mayor Manish Sood dissenting. Ramaglia’s legal team was given until May 27 to return to the council with a response.
