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DeBary council to hold hearing on whether to fire mayor

DEBARY, Fla. — The DeBary City Council decided Wednesday night that it will hold a hearing next month to decide if Mayor Clint Johnson should forfeit his position following accusations he violated the city’s charter.

The council voted to sue Johnson over dozens of failed attempts to get public records from him, but the move to try and fire him centers around an email and text message in which they claim he is ordering around staff, which is not allowed.

The council claims under city charter that "no individual member of the council shall give any orders to any officer or employee of the city."

Channel 9 obtained an email from January 11 where Johnson asks city records manager Eric Frankton to "not allow anyone unsupervised access to documents."
An April 20 text message from Johnson to the city manager reads "cancel this ridiculous meeting and quit trying to burn the city before you leave."

During Wednesday night’s packed meeting, Johnson didn’t say much as residents expressed their anger and concerns.

“This is pathetic. I’m so sick it. Of (Johnson) and (the council) and like I said in my email, ‘Congratulations worst council ever,’” said a resident who was not identified.

Councilman Rick Dwyer said he felt there was no choice but to move forward with a hearing.

“We have to abide by the charter and move forward,” he said.

Johnson’s attorney said the case is weak.

“I think they did get all their ducks in a row and they were able to find two items and they did not amount to anything,” said Johnson.

The City Council voted to file an ethics complaint at its last meeting.

The council told Channel 9 this is a last resort to force Johnson to turn over public records after the city has already spent thousands of dollars in legal fees to have him hand them over.

Johnson claims he already handed over some records, and that he doesn't have some of the others being requested.

The records pertain to money Johnson received for a charity, money he spent on fliers, his social media activity and feedback he received from citizens in the mayor’s mailbox.