Did Weaver Resign . . . or not?
Commission to decide at special meeting Feb. 15
by Beth Kassab / February 9, 2023
Commissioner Todd Weaver, who announced Friday he is “stepping down,” said at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting that he now wants to remain in the job, though the board delayed a decision about whether he can do so.
Weaver, who was re-elected last year for a second three-year term, sent a mass email on Friday that said he is struggling to manage commission duties along with his business obligations and also told the Orlando Sentinel on Friday, “I’m juggling too many balls.” He signed the email with his name and “Winter Park City Commissioner 2019-2023,” two years shy of when his term would be up in 2025.
But on Wednesday he argued the email, which carried the subject line “Stepping Down” and was sent from his campaign address to constituents, supporters and others including the city clerk, was not a resignation.
“Nowhere in that notification to residents did it say I was going to resign or resign on a certain date,” Weaver said. “It was just reaching out and showing my appreciation to all of you and all of city staff … Yes, I’m struggling a little bit with time, but I’ve made some adjustments in my personal life … I’m here tonight and I want to serve.”
In question now is if the five-member commission considers Weaver’s email an official resignation. If so, City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said Seat 4 would be considered vacant and Weaver’s participation and votes on city business “could compromise the integrity of the commission’s actions.”
Ardaman said only the commission can determine if the email constituted an immediate resignation.
A vacant seat would mean the commission would appoint someone to serve until the next general election in March of 2024 when voters would select a candidate to fill the final year of Weaver’s term. No races will appear on the city ballot this year because commissioners Sheila DeCiccio and Marty Sullivan were automatically re-elected when no one filed to run against either incumbent.
Jockeying for the vacancy had already begun by the start of Wednesday’s meeting. The Winter Park Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the Commission on Friday within hours of Weaver’s email calling for the board to appoint “someone from the African American community.”
“It has been an unacceptable 130 years since a Black person has served on the Winter Park City Commission and you now have a perfect opportunity to correct that inequity,” stated the letter from chamber President Betsy Gardner Eckbert.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan advocated to call a vote to keep Weaver on the commission.
“It’s very clear, I believe, that Vice Mayor Weaver chose to rescind that and chose to continue to stay on the commission,” Sullivan said. “It’s clear from [City Attorney Kurt] Ardaman that it’s up to us to decide whether he stays on the commission so I think it’s out of order to delay that decision on our part.”
But Mayor Phil Anderson won a vote 3-2 to delay the decision until a special meeting devoted to the matter next Wednesday. Weaver and Sullivan cast the dissenting votes.
Anderson requested an opinion on the matter from the city’s labor attorney before the next meeting.
Ardaman said that if commissioners interpret the email as an immediate resignation, then it’s likely not possible for Weaver to rescind that decision. But if they determine his intent was to resign in the future then he could potentially walk it back.
Weaver participated in votes on the remainder of the city agenda on Wednesday.
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By: Anne Mooney
Anne Mooney has assumed the editorship of the Winter Park Voice from founding editor Tom Childers.
Mooney got her start in New York as a freelance line editor for book publishers, among them Simon & Schuster and the Clarkson Potter division of Crown Books. From New York, she and her husband and their year-old toddler moved to Washington, D.C., where the two ran a newswire service for Harper’s magazine. “We called it Network News,” said Mooney, “because it was a network of the Harper’s writers, whose work we edited into newspaper style and format and sold to papers in the top U.S. and Canadian markets. We were sort of like a tiny UPI.”
The newswire ceased operation with the death of Mooney’s first husband, but Mooney continued to write and edit, doing freelance work for Williams Sonoma cookbooks and for local publications in D.C.
In 2005, Mooney moved to Winter Park, where she worked as a personal chef and wrote a regular food column for a south Florida magazine. She took an active interest in Winter Park politics and was there when the Winter Park Voice was founded. She wrote occasional pieces for the Voice, including the Childers bio that this piece replaces.
The Winter Park Voice is one of a large number of “hyper-local” publications that have sprung up across the U.S. in response to the decline of the major daily newspapers and the resulting deficit of local news coverage. The Voice’sbeat is Winter Park City Hall, and its purpose is to help the residents of our city better understand the political forces that shape our daily lives.
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Todd Weaver has been an active and intelligent voice on the commission and probably has more relevant experience on issues than most anyone else who has been on board. We cannot afford to lose his valuable expertise. Fortunately, since he never submitted a formal resignation to the city commission, there is no resignation.
I have great respect for Kurt Ardaman, but I really don’t think that informal document counts as anything but a person who seems like he was wrung out or upset about a vote, musing about quitting. When I read it I wonder about when it became effective. I think an official resignation would have to be specific, sent to the City Clerk and face a tougher legal test than the letter to his supporters.
Commissioner Weaver’s informal of an intent to resign is sometbing less than an actual resignation. His continuing service on the City Commission is in the interests of the voters who elected him.
It appears that Todd Weaver has made the mistake of worrying out loud. He subsequently realized that this was not the time nor the place to withdraw from his twice elected position as commissioner. Others who want to view this as intractable conduct should review Commissioner Weaver’s strong record and contributions to the City of Winter Park. To lose him to political barking is regressive.
TODD WEAVER IS AN IMPORTANT ASSET TO THE CITY IN HIS ROLE AS COMMISSIONER AND VICE MAYOR. HIS WISE CONSUL IS MUCH APPRECIATED. HOWEVER, I THINK IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN OFFICIAL RULING TO THE EFFECT THAT HE DID NOT FORMALLY RESIGN. THIS IS OBVIOUS TO ME AND MANY OTHER RESIDENTS OF WINTER PARK, BUT A LEGAL RULING IS NECESSARY SO THAT FUTURE ACTIONS OF THE COMMISSION ON WHICH HE VOTES CAN NOT BE LEGALLY CHALLENGED.
As usual, your opinion is well reasoned Mayor.
Hi Joe
I hope you are doing well and think of you often. I agree with your analysis.
take care
david bond
Perhaps Todd was identifying as someone who would resign, then decided he really identifies as a current Commissioner. That’s the way our world works today. Flexibility is the key.
I never received Commissioner Weaver’s initial email blast — a lot of folks didn’t, but we all change our minds. Sometimes it is in the face of overwhelming circumstances. It’s human nature. We’ve all experienced that . . . In some cases it’s business or family or finances. Bottom line: no official communication was sent to the City Clerk or Mayor. Why? His circumstances CHANGED — to the upside. That’s the highest and best guide-star in this case. There was no official communication following accepted protocols. The rest is just talk. The best course would have been for the Clerk to respond requesting a formal resignation with a designated date be submitted. That step is missing. It never took place. The process is incomplete. Resolution: on Feb 15 at 3:30, ask Weaver what’s it gonna be, officially? Go with the fairness doctrine. Any one of us would hope this courtesy would be extended to us. End of drama.