Manager nets $1.1M

A former Winter Park city manager has agreed to a nearly half million dollar settlement, ending a legal suit that was filed a week after the city fired him.

"I'm glad it's behind me and glad it's behind them, and I'm sure they feel the same way," said former City Manager Jim Williams, now city manager of neighboring Maitland.

Williams had been fired by Winter Park by a controversial 3-2 City Commission vote on September 2007, ending his employment contract early.

Williams' attorney Howard Marks filed suit the next week, arguing that a severance agreement in his employment contract entitled him to as much as $4.4 million. Williams had worked for the city for 34 years, acting as city manager for 13 years.

Commissioners John Eckbert and Doug Metcalf, who are no longer with the Commission, led the call for Williams' firing, accusing him of inefficient management and bloated payrolls. The city had won numerous awards for management during Williams' term.

Winter Park's current city manager, Randy Knight, said that the total amount paid to Williams, including the recent settlement, was about $1.1 million.

"Clearly this was a business decision to try to mitigate the risk of him getting some type of award, including paying for all of ours and their attorney fees for the next year," Knight said.

At Monday's City Commission meeting City Attorney Larry Brown gave the city one last chance to object to the agreement that would give Williams a settlement payment of $490,000.

"If the Commission is comfortable with it, I certainly would recommend it," Brown said, after imploring the Commission to meet with him in a special executive session to discuss the settlement in detail.

The Commission, including two first-time commissioners, Carolyn Cooper and Tom McMacken, voted immediately to accept the settlement.

Incidentally two commissioners who ended their terms at the beginning of the meeting, Margie Bridges and Karen Diebel, had both been present on the Commission that voted to fire Williams. Bridges had voted against the firing, while Diebel, acting as a swing vote, had voted in favor of his termination.

Williams said he's happy to end the legal battle with his former employers.

"Sometimes you settle things and sometimes you don't," Williams said. "I think we both are satisfied."