May 4, 2026Updated May 5, 2026, 10:09 a.m. ET

• Residents and other observers of City Hall had waited two weeks for an update on the public dispute between the city manager and city attorney, but it was taken off the agenda at the last minute.
• The commissioners who voted to remove the discussion from the agenda said they were doing so because the city had received a notice of intent, a precursor to a lawsuit being filed.
• The notice of intent seems to be related to the underlying issue behind the dispute, whether an employee was improperly disciplined in a way that may have violated federal employment law.

FORT PIERCE — After two weeks of anticipation, city leaders canceled a discussion intended to clarify the duties of the city manager and city attorney.

That discussion was deemed necessary after a public dispute between the two officials related to the city allegedly taking disciplinary action against an employee in a way that may have violated federal law.

The motion to remove the discussion from the May 4 agenda passed 4-1, with Commissioner Arnold Gaines claiming the discussion needed to wait because the city received a notice of intent to sue last week related to the same topic.

Gaines, who is also an attorney, said the City Commission should hold off on further public discussion of the topic until commissioners can meet with legal advisors to discuss the notice of intent, a letter which is required by Florida law to be sent before a lawsuit can be filed.

A majority...

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