NSB NEWS.net photo by Sera King. Cutline: Aa attempt to have New Smyrna Beach City Attorney Frank Gummey fired failed. The city would had to pay him $400,000 in severance.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- A verbal sparring match between New Smyrna Beach City Attorney Frank Gummey and another attorney during a New Smyrna Beach City Commission over a technical issue nearly led to Gummey's ouster, which would have forced the city to buy out his contract for a whopping $400,000.
City Commissioners Lynne Plaskett and Randy Richenberg called for Gummey's firing "for cause" Nov. 5, failed after Gummey offered to resign as long as the city honored the provisions of his contract, an open-ended document that only allows the city to terminate him if he's proven to have committed legal or criminal malfeasance.
The majority on the commission saw it merely as an unfortunate misunderstanding. At issue was a debate between Gummey and attorney Bill Preston, representing the Utilities Commission, about a proposed easement that got testy when the city attorney said such a request was not necessary because he stated in part: "There is no such thing as a legal entity as the Utilities Commission."
Gummey later explained in a letter to the utilities commission that he was not questioning its legal right to operate under the city's charter. Mayor Sally Mackay had insisted on the letter from Gummey. At a subsequent meeting, Clay Henderson, a New Smyrna Beach attorney employed by Holland and Knight of Orlando, followed up, imploring the City Commission to recognize the legal rights of his client, the Utilities Commission of New Smyrna Beach, which it did.