Tarpon Springs scraps city manager search after charges of favoritism

By the time Tarpon Springs city commissioners were to vote Tuesday on how to proceed with two finalists for city manager, they had the candidates’ applications and resumes for less than a week.

Commissioners had interviewed the finalists three days earlier, first in private and then in a public meeting. But they did not receive the resumes of the other roughly 20 applicants cut by a search firm until Tuesday morning, a day after Commissioner Panagiotis Koulias requested them.

With a majority of commissioners unhappy with the finalists or the process, the commission voted unanimously Tuesday to postpone the search for six months, leaving longtime City Manager Mark LeCouris in the position.

But Koulias and Commissioner John Koulianos went further, accusing Mayor Costa Vatikiotis of steering a flawed recruitment process toward his preferred candidate in his role as the “liaison” between the commission and the search firm.

“The bottom line is not only have we rushed the process, but the feeling out there is we’ve been funneled to one candidate,” Koulias said.

Vatikiotis denies he steered the process in any way. But the dramatic accusations and fumbled city manager search reflect a commission that has fractured since the majority of its members were elected in unity in March 2022.

In April, Koulias demanded Commissioner Mike Eisner resign for a series of allegations, including that Eisner used his wife to relay information to other commissioners, which Eisner denies.

Eisner responded by filing a complaint against Koulias with the Florida Commission on Ethics for a variety of grievances, including that Koulias “called me a nobody.” The state later dismissed the complaint.

“Our reputation is rotten in the county and I’m embarrassed,” former Mayor Anita Protos told the commission Tuesday.

On Monday, the day before the commission was scheduled to vote on the city manager finalists, Vatikiotis wrote his colleagues a memo outlining motions that could be made to move forward with either finalist — Fort Myers Assistant City Manager John Lege or former Huntsville, Texas, Deputy City Manager Rick Rudometkin.

But Koulianos said “it was lined up” toward Lege because Vatikotis had already touted Lege to people in the community, leaving Rudometkin without a chance “because of all the backdoor gossiping.”

“This is influence in every way to get a vote done and get it done fast,” Koulias said of the memo.

Eisner said either finalist would be a fit for the city. Commissioner Craig Lunt said he wasn’t satisfied with either candidate.

But Koulianos questioned how Lege could have been a finalist at all, compared to a seasoned administrator like LeCouris, when Lege has never served as a city manager.

“I don’t want to be directed,” Koulianos said. “I’m not a pawn on a chessboard.”

The push to advance a search for a new city manager accelerated during the 2022 campaign, when Vatikiotis, Koulias, Eisner and Lunt backed the concept for new administration. But the new commissioners did not push the issue immediately once in office.

Vatikiotis on Wednesday said that was because there was unfinished business the city had to sort out before a search process could begin. But Koulianos suggested the reason was because the mayor agreed for LeCouris to stay an extra year if he kept his head down and was “a good boy.” LeCouris declined to comment.

From the dais, Koulianos stressed it is known that LeCouris wants to remain city manager. When he asked LeCouris in private talks why he hasn’t spoken up during the search for his replacement to say he doesn’t want to retire yet, Koulianos said LeCouris responded: “I made a deal, I’ve got to stick to it.”

On Tuesday, residents lined up to support LeCouris, saying he should not be pushed out prematurely after he dedicated 45 years to the city as a police officer, police chief and city manager.

“If you don’t want him here, live up to your campaign promises, make a motion, vote and fire him,” resident Dean Prodromitis said. “If not, stop with all the theatrics. He’s dedicated his whole life to this city and needs to be respected a little bit better.”

Koulias was the most vocal on the 2022 campaign trail about ousting LeCouris. Although he said he still wants to see new leadership before the end of his term, he said once in office he realized the timeline to find a new city manger was not so urgent. He said the “tremendously flawed” process that imploded Tuesday showed how important it is to conduct a thorough and transparent search to find the most qualified candidate.

Koulianos also said now is not the time to be changing leadership when the city is facing the potential of multiple lawsuits.

Former City Attorney Tom Trask’s law firm has already sued the city for public records he alleges are being withheld, documents that could show commissioners defamed him during his time with the city.

And Morgan Group, a Texas development firm, has said it will pursue a lawsuit if the city does not issue building permits for its planned apartment complex on the Anclote River, a project approved by the previous commission.

“The city is facing two significant possible lawsuits, big ones,” Koulianos said. “You guys lit the flames on them with rhetoric and action, and that fire is coming.”