UPDATE
Last night Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey issued a response – through his twitter account – to the recent decision by Anontio Gillum to rescind his acceptance of the police chief job.
I’m disappointed that Antonio Gilliam has decided not to come to Tallahassee as our next police chief. I’m proud of the offer we extended to him, which he accepted on Dec. 4. However, since then Mr. Gilliam has decided to rescind his acceptance. I wish him & his family well.
Original Report
The City of Tallahassee sent out a press release this afternoon from City Manager Reese Goad stating that Antonio Gilliam rescinded “his acceptance of the employment agreement he signed on December 4, 2019, committing to be Tallahassee’s Police Chief.”
Goad noted that the “news is unexpected, and I am disappointed that he has chosen to step away at this point in the process.”
Shortly after the press release, City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow took to twitter and provided more information.
Matlow tweeted:
Antonio Gilliam requested autonomy of hiring/firing his command staff and a six year agreement in which he could only be terminated with cause. After weeks of negotiations he wasn’t able to secure these two.
Reasonable requests considering the tenure of previous Police Chiefs and the politics of coming to a city with one of the highest crime rates in the state.
City Manager says that Gilliam was “frustrated with how long the contract was taking.” Gilliam says that he already put his home on the market and secured a place to live in Tallahassee.
If we aren’t willing to give a Police Chief the same considerations we give a Football Coach, where does that leave us? Completely baffled that this was mishandled and I will do a thorough investigation to find out what happened between the job offer and now.
City Manager Reese Goad ended his statement by stating, “We will take the time necessary to determine next steps in moving forward. In the meantime, Chief Steve Outlaw will continue to lead the department. I have full confidence in the Tallahassee Police Department and their ability to continue meeting the challenges we face as a community and the expectations of our residents. “
Check back for updates.
Antonio Gilliam Rescinds Acceptance of Police Chief Job added by Steve Stewart on
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Time for consolidation. We elect a Sheriff why do we allow the city to appoint a police chief.
Lets do away with city taxes lets just have one tax .
Bill Proctor’s head just Exploded today (12/26/2019) Lawrence Revell was named Tallahassee’s Chief of Police.
Same old same old crap here at the city. People make decisions that that have no right to make. We will never fill this position with a quality candidate because the City Manager will nit let that happen. This is total BS. They had a qualified person from this City and still wanted to come back here to get this City where it needs to be , but NO they had him reporting to a Asst Manager with no police experience and wants to Miri manage him. Really people we need a drastic change here in this City if we want any if this crap to change. Get out and vote for change , stop this crazy crap now!!
After reading all this candidate published about our City after not getting his way with two issues in the contract.. and receiving the largest money contract offer in our history, we lucked up not getting this man.. something is wrong besides the “process”. He was given a standard City contract, take it or leave it. Get to work and prove yourself, if not don’t take the job. But running our City down and saying no police chief will ever come here now, is 3rd grade. Good riddance.. on to the next applicant.
What the City requires is the FBI indictment released on Gillum and about the top 50 Old Guard ‘Leaders’ – pure and simple. Concurrently with Matlow pushing for firing Goad/Barber/Blair/Jackson/ etc. WITH ALL dirty contracts revoked and rebid – with all husband, wife, mother, brother, AKA sistah, identified and addressed, and all DUAL and conflicting side-hussles announced. There – Problem fixed.
It doesn’t appear that COT will allow any Police Chief candidate complete independence and authority over who is hired/fired at TPD or how TPD chooses to do it’s job. This city desperately needs a tough, no-nonsense, experienced and smart Police Chief who gets the job DONE.
What we don’t need is another PC, politically controlled place-holder who will “manage” our crime as seen fit by non-qualified micro-manager politicians in City Hall.
The simple, straight question facing COT is this: Do you want Tallahassee’s crime problem SOLVED, or not? It’s a simple question.
Steve & Laurence:
Y’all need Marie Mattox on speed dial. Pay her to threaten COT with a Class Action lawsuit for race discrimination for passing on you.
Then watch how Goadie the Toadie gets his panties in a wad.
The City said they will choose a new Chief for this pool of 8 People. I think they should give them each a Copy of the contract they tried to give Gilliam and see if it needs any changes BEFORE they Interview them. It sure would save a lot of Time and Money on everyone.
John Dale – Colonel and the Executive Director of the Department of Investigations in the Broward Sheriff’s Office. He also previously worked for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department.
•Argatha Gilmore – Chief of Police for Lake City, and a former TPD officer. During her time in Tallahassee, she was a Division Commander in the Southern Sector, Internal Affairs, Technical Services Division, Alpha District, Charlie District, and Special Operations.
•Steve Outlaw – Interim Chief of Police of TPD since former Chief DeLeo’s resignation in early July. He has been a member of TPD since 1987.
•Lawrence Revell – Major in the Criminal Investigations Bureau of TPD. He has also served as Major for the High Risk Offenders Bureau, the Special Response Team, and Captain for Research and Development. Revell has been a member of TPD since 1992.
•Glenn Sapp – Chief of Police for the Quincy Police Department since 2014, and the Assistant Chief from 2011 until then. He was also a member of the Tallahassee Police Department from 1988 until 2011.
•Lonnie Scott – Major in the Administrative Services Bureau Commander of TPD. He also previously served as member of the Gainesville Police Department in the capacities of Professional Standards and Support Services Bureau Commander and Emergency Manager for the City of Gainesville.
•Audrey Smith – Chief of the Department of Youth & Accreditation Services for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office. She was also a member of the Tallahassee Police Department from 1988 to 2017.
•Eric Smith – Deputy Chief in Orlando, and has been a police officer there from 1994 until 2005, before being promoted to Sergeant.
Some of the folks on this list would be GLAD to kowtow to City Hall, which is exactly why we don’t need them in charge of TPD! They’ve already tried bringing in someone from outside with the previous 2 chiefs. They should select from someone currently on TPD, not those who left and now wanna come back to be king. Outlaw would be the best, Revell 2nd, but guess why neither of them probably have no chance.
Does any current member of TPD know of command staff individuals who were selected by the city commission, the city manager or the Asst city manager and forced on the previous chief? Any knowledge of specific instances of micromanaging by city commissioners or manager?
If no one can verify an actual problem, maybe there isn’t a problem.
Information can be provided confidentially on this site.
I know that because of a little “tift” that occurred between Acting Chief Outlaw & McNeil, Outaw was throw out of the finals. It’s pretty apparent what criteria was being used during the selection process, & qualification was not at the top. People involved in the law enforcement community were happy that Gilliam was chosen. He wanted to make Lonnie Scott & Revell Deputy Chiefs – what the heck is wrong with that?? Sounds like he wanted to bring the community together & move forward. But no, City Hall said “you can’t do that, WE decide”. Sad for our community but Gilliam is lucky to not take on this mess.
Sounds like typical bureaucratic rot, from inside out, those above no matter the experience or wisdom know what’s best for all of us. Absolute power and greed, corrupts absolutely. Welcome to continued crime; the crime mentality among us will notice the failure as well.
Massa Goad wanted to be the overseer of his boy Antonio on the COT PLANTATION.
Probley would have called his “boy” by a pet name like maybe Auntie G or something cute.
“No Auntie G you cant stop the killings down in the quarters like that because it may be “profiling” and us Godless leftists dont do that.
Shine my shoes and fill my pipe and wash my car Auntie G.”
Boiled down, Gilliam told COT “I can solve your crime problem, but you have to let me solve it my way.”
COT replied “Uh – no way.”
Yes, a little bird nestled within the bowels of Shi, er, City Hall who has an anonymous perch that allows viewing and noting of all of the back-room goings on, and side and shady deals apparently chirped a song into his ear and filled in exactly what it would be like to be a/the police chief in this town.
With that info this candidate asked questions and wanting guarantees in writing BEFORE signing on the dotted line and being politically hamstrung and “owned” later.
Wise man he was and is.
It appears that Gilliam must have seen the tip of the COT’s dirty iceberg when negotiations over his clear terms were taking so long, and he understandably backed out. From all I’ve read so far on this, Gilliam wanted total control over his hire/fire decisions and wanted to ensure he wouldn’t be fired for reasons other than poor job performance or professional misconduct. In other words, he wanted to do the job the way he saw fit. Gilliam has an excellent reputation and record in St. Pete – so as a COT official, I would have let him have his say in how he ran his police department. COT evidently didn’t want to.
So – we lost a police chief who appears to have really wanted to SOLVE Tallahassee’s crime problem, not simply “manage” it in a PC and COT-approved manner. Tallahassee will NEVER fix it’s crime problems until we get a city government that truly wants the problem fixed. And – as long as we have the embedded culture of corruption and under-table dealings in COT, that will never happen.
Does the city of Tallahassee have a city charter? Wouldn’t most of these issues be addressed in the charter? Amending the charter might be time consuming and worrisome.
I completely understand Gilliam’s move, and I applaud him for his wise decision. Why would anyone in their right mind knowingly place themselves and their career is a situation whereby they are at the whim of the toe-tappers and side-steppers at City Hall. In this politically charged, liberal PC, criminals over cops environment – it would be far too easy to turn the Police Chief into a re-election tool.
Additionally, not allowing him to select his own leadership team lends itself to a better understanding of – and perhaps some credence to – Commissioner Matlow’s concerns over the “Family and Friends” employment practices at the city.
It’s not really baffling as to what’s going on here…
If the city manager is unwilling to give a new chief the autonomy to hire/fire within his department, it shows the city manager expects to control the next chief…even keeping tabs on him thru subordinates…
If the city manager will not agree to put in the contract the chief can only be fired for cause…that shows there were real concerns the new chief would not be able to manage his department without micro management from above, and confirms the intent of the city manager to do so. If a new chief knows he/she can be fired anytime without cause…politics will always trump police department policy.
I can’t say I blame Mr. Gilliam for backing out after seeing the swamp he was getting into. The fact that he recognized it before jumping in…and refused to participate shows we may have lost a good one.
The reputation of the Tallahassee swamp just keeps growing instead of shrinking..it seems no department is immune.
What a damned mess!
Cynthia Barber single handily collapsed this deal. This has Barber’s patented chaos and hurry-up motif. This was backed and organized by Cassandra Jackson (yes, formerly the HR attorney), supported by Reese the Toad, via Ellen Blair with the damage control minions lead by Alison Faris. The 5 Stooges. Good on Gilliam walking away from these Idiots. It’s Tallahassee’s loss.
B Good Call: you are so right, Cynthia Barber needs to be fired Mr Mayor, however, please not before I and my attorney learn what conniving back room deals she may have had a hand in with the FDEP Sewage Consent Orders in 2009 and 2011! This is when she ran some Environmental program within the city and likely kept these COs hidden from the public transparency! Apparently hidden even from Commissioners who never saw them on an agenda! A lack of transparency ending up costing tax payers $3 million a year at a time when many employees were being fired or laid off during the Great Recession. Ms Barber what say you?
I believe you are absolutely correct on this. I have never understood this person in this position and the deterioration can be traced to about the time period she was given this position.
I don’t even know why she is in this position she has no experience in law enforcement.
I am surprised that Mayor Dailey has not cleaned up this dysfunction and is oblivious to it. This should have been his first official act is removing this person, the second should have been removing Mr Goad.
With a continuing dysfunction and Chaos I’m wondering if they need to remove the new City attorney, also.
There should be a public outcry and again Mayor Dailey has shown no leadership.
All dirty dealing appointments associated with the convicted Federal criminal Mattox, liar Fernandez, Gillum, Goad REQUIRE a redo – Mr. Matlow! Specifically – Barber & Jackson. Barber said and was repeatedly quoted in when ‘promoted’ over the Police Chief that, “I have no experience whatsoever in law enforcement; the only way I am even remotely qualified is my father was a Police Officer”. Barber via Anita Favor Thompson’s continual counsel via direction from Rick Fernandez as counsel are calling these shots. This debacle via Barber, Goad, Cassandra Jackson has to be seen for what it is.
Seems like he maybe had a better offer with the department he already works for. One article stated that he starts his new position with St.Pete police on January 6th , same day he was supposed to start in Tally. That negotiation had to be in the works prior to today’s announcement.
It’s called not burning your Bridge before you cross the next one.
When I read in the local paper that Gilliam had rescinded the police chief offer, and read the reasons cited, all I could think was ‘good for him’. He is, apparently, much smarter than the City realized. (I’d never heard of the term “termination of convenience”, either.) We needed someone like Gilliam. It’s a shame the City can’t get their act together in a timely, efficient, professional manner.
City Manager Reese Goad further stated, “This turn of events allows me to appoint that pretty little wig wearing transsexual that I’ve had my eye on to Chief of Police!”
And you all better not say anything or risk being shamed for being anti-LGBT.
I am sorry we can not consider the most qualified applicant, a Mr. Revel, after my politically correct ebony dude pulled out.
“I the all powerful City Manager Have Spoken!!!”
Has a public records demand been made for correspondence between Gilliam and city staff?
Has TR requested an interview with Gilliam?
Have city officials interfered in selection of command staff in the past? If not, why would they object.
“Has a public records demand been made for correspondence between Gilliam and city staff?”
did you make a public records demand for correspondence between Gilliam and city staff?
Why would you ask someone else to do this?
Good for him!
Another example of why we need a new city manager.
A man who left this community has the discipline and strength of character to say he is not willing to play into “business as usual” at City Hall. I applaud Antonio Gillum!
And now we have a Commissioner who was never elected holding $50,000 of campaign money raised from the likes of those Scott Maddox and Andrew Gillum used to dance with. When are we going to say enough is enough?
His last name is GILLIAM not Gillum……..please don’t degrade him by giving him Andy’s last name.
“autonomy of hiring/firing his command staff” ……… Shouldn’t the Police Chief have that Power? A Football Coach does.
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“could only be terminated with cause” ……………. Isn’t that the only way to Fire someone, “With Cause”?
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“weeks of negotiations” ……………….. WEEKS? WTH? Wasn’t ANY of these concerns talked about during the Interview Process?
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I guess Proctor gets his way now, a whole new re-advertisement for the Job.
“could only be terminated with cause” – No probationary term?
Even with a Probationary Term you need a Cause to Fire someone, you just can’t say, “Hmmm, it’s Tuesday, I think I will Fire him today”. You need a Valid reason (Cause).
Right, but how many people get terminated during the probationary term? It’s a non-issue – unless you can’t meet basic performance measures. This makes me question his real qualifications or intentions.
Absent a contract dictating terms otherwise, in FL an employer can indeed fire an employee for no reason at all; there is no requirement a reason for termination need be provided.
Correct, Rob.
Florida is an Employment At Will/Work For Hire state.
Absent a contract, an employer can give any reason OR no reason.
Therein lies the derivation of the phrase that “you are paid in sunshine” as an excuse for the low-paying jobs that are so prevalent in Florida.
Here’s the deal and pay attention! – ‘own’ the Police Chief & you own who gets arrested or not. Barber was promoted by Goad who was anointed by Favors/Thompson via Marks – via Sharron Ofuani (COT HR) of Crime Starters who worked for Gloria McNeil (wife of Walt – the Sherlff – and Gloria was HR COT); and Barber and this AKA/NFBP crew couldn’t possibly tolerate an independent Chief – that won’t lie/cover for them. FBI – there’s more but all above is 1000% true.
The Pajama Boy needs to go.
And take his Henchwoman with him.
Matlow: Your turn.
Make a move.
You are the citizen’s only Hope.
BREAKING: Major Scott just resigned, and is taking a job back in Gainesville. So that leave Revell as the only one of the three finalists left.
Proctor, better get busy stirring the pot!