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MEXICO BEACH, Fla. (WMBB<\/a>) \u2013 \u201cJerry\u2019s made a motion to terminate, is there a second?\u201d City of Mexico Beach Mayor Richard Wolff said.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean\u2026 I\u2019ll second,\u201d Jason Adams said.<\/p>\n During their April 23 meeting, Mexico Beach city council members voted 4-to-1 to fire city administrator Chris Truitt.<\/p>\n At the time, Truitt was under investigation for alleged harassment of city employees. Truitt issued two temporary vendor permits allowing the sale of ice cream and chair rentals on the beach.<\/p>\n Council members said they\u2019d previously told Truitt they didn\u2019t want vendors bothering people on the beach.<\/p>\n Mexico Beach debates regulation of food trucks amidst growth <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely don\u2019t want Panama City Beach, we absolutely don\u2019t want kinds of things that we see on other beaches. You want to maintain let\u2019s call it old Mexico Beach,\u201d Council Member Erik Fosshage said.<\/p>\n The next day, on April 24, the Krizner Group delivered its investigative report into Truitt\u2019s behavior.<\/p>\n Investigators found Truitt should face disciplinary action and receive additional training, but did not recommend his termination.<\/p>\n The report also recommends that city officials revise the employee handbook, conduct yearly training, and institute procedures for reporting harassment and investigating complaints.<\/p>\n Council members knew they\u2019d be getting the report the day after they fired Truitt, but said it had nothing to do with the beach permitting issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe H.R. is looking into the other allegations and complaints and what not and then this came after that and it\u2019s really a separate issue,\u201d the City\u2019s Attorney said.<\/p>\n The council held a special meeting on April 25, where they agreed to hire Smigielski as interim city administrator.<\/p>\n During our interview on Wednesday with Smigielski, we were unaware of Truitt\u2019s firing or the fact the report was completed.<\/p>\n Bay County transforming Issac Byrd Park <\/a><\/p>\n News 13 asked if Truitt were to be fired, would he be interested in the job permanently? He said no.<\/p>\n \u201cI have been retired for a few years now, so I need to go back to chasing grandkids around,\u201d Smigielski said.<\/p>\n But he didn\u2019t tell us Truitt was already gone.<\/p>\n Smigielski did that Thursday morning, when he called and asked us to change our story.<\/p>\n When we requested that he do another interview, he declined. So did Mayor Richard Wolff, who said he was worried about what the public would think of Truitt\u2019s firing, even though it happened during a public meeting.<\/p>\n Smigielski told us he plans to be interim city administrator for about three months, while the city presumably searches for a permanent replacement.<\/p>\n Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not why he was fired.<\/p>\n