Inspector General meeting spurs arguments in Winter Springs

The Winter Springs City Commission meeting got heated Monday after elected officials argued about a visit from the Florida Chief Inspector General, leading to questions about whether the mayor overstepped his authority.

Florida Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel visited Winter Springs March 27, speaking with city officials and visiting the city’s wastewater treatment site. The context of that meeting, and who was there, is the subject of intense spin, with both city officials and the Winter Springs Community Association releasing smiling photos with Miguel. 

_{Florida Chief Inspector Melinda Miguel, left, posing for a photo with former Winter Springs City Commissioner Ken Greenberg. The Winter Springs Community Association wrote on Facebook that Winter Springs was “under the oversight of the Governor’s office.”} 

The Winter Springs Community Association says Winter Springs is under the “oversight” of the governor’s office. But the mayor said the inspector general was invited as a way to clear the air and have the city be an “open book” after a state committee referred the city of Winter Springs to the state’s chief inspector general in December. Rep. David Smith, who helped coordinate the visit, said the inspector general requested the visit.

Calls and emails to the governor’s office requesting an interview with Miguel were not returned before deadline. 

_{From left to right: Winter Springs Director of Finance Holly Queen, Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann, Winter Springs Interim City Manager Phil Hursh, Florida Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel, Zoe Duncan (aide to Rep. David Smith) and Steven Henry, director of auditing with the Inspector General’s office, in this photo taken March 27.} 

One thing records show: On April 4, Miguel sent a letter to city officials, including state elected officials, referencing section 218.503 of Florida Statutes. That was the statute cited when State Sen. Jason Brodeur referred Winter Springs to the Inspector General’s office for evaluation. The statute lists the conditions that trigger when a government or charter school is in a “financial emergency.” 

Miguel wrote that she “thoroughly appreciates our visit and the time you took to share information about your city.” She gave Winter Springs until May 15 to get details about the city’s contracts to maintain its wastewater reclamation facility to Florida’s Chief Inspector General.

“We want to request the current status of any corrective actions, either planned or completed, for those reviews listed on the attached Corrective Action Response Chart for City of Winter Springs,” Miguel wrote in a letter, which you can read below. “We would also like to request a copy of the agreement between the City and the contractor maintaining the wastewater reclamation facility.”  

At Monday’s City Commission meeting, Mayor Kevin McCann said he arranged Miguel’s meeting with the help of Winter Springs State Rep. David Smith. McCann said he did so by telling staff to be prepared to make a presentation to a VIP from Tallahassee, but didn’t disclose that it was the inspector general. He also didn’t invite city commissioners, so that the meeting could legally be held in private without requiring public notice. If more than one member of the City Commission was part of the meeting, it would have required public notice.

 “The state is not stepping to oversee – that is a terrible word, it’s a false word – to oversee the city of Winter Springs,” McCann said. 

He said he asked multiple times if Winter Springs is under “investigation” from the Inspector General’s office for anything. 

“There is not an investigation,” McCann said. “No. We are evaluating to see if certain citizens’ concerns rise to the level of inspector general or the governor’s office becoming involved.” 

McCann continued: “I’m telling you there is absolutely no evidence of such. None. Zero. None. These rumors that are going around are purely political. This is about the coming election.”

The most recent issues actually started at the March 25 City Commission meeting, before the inspector general’s visit. Former Winter Springs City Commissioner Ken Greenberg during public input said the Inspector General was coming to the city on Wednesday. 

Resnick emailed the city manager afterward asking if the inspector general was coming, and why none of the commissioners had been invited. 

“I know nothing about the IG,” Interim City Manager Phil Hursh responded to Resnick’s email Tuesday, March 26, according to records obtained by Oviedo Community News. “I would have thought I would have been put on notice by the IG of any planned visit.”

In an interview before Monday’s meeting, Resnick said he would have wanted the chance to meet with the inspector general when she was in town. He said being kept in the dark about the meeting “violated my trust in so many ways.”

“Show me I can trust you. Show me you can consistently be a team player,” Resnick said about the mayor. “I would like for us to instead of fighting these different groups fix what we need to fix.”

At the April 8 City Commission meeting, Resnick got into a heated debate with McCann. 

“The City Charter specifically says we, the commission, guide you, the mayor, to be our spokesperson,” Resnick. “So when we didn’t know what was going on …  I don’t want Ken Greenberg to know things I don’t. But that means you hid that from us. And that is upsetting.”

McCann said he had the right to meet with elected officials. Resnick countered, saying he was blindsided.

“I’m finding out online, I’m finding out through social media, I’m finding out through people I speak with, by the way this is happening in your city,” Resnick said. “This should be coming to me in information. I shouldn’t be blindsided.”

“I disagree,” McCann said. “You had nothing to do with it. I had no reason to tell you.”

“I have everything to do with it, I sit on this dais,” Resnick said, starting to speak over McCann. “I sit on this dais as a voting member of this dais. You don’t vote. I am one of five that make the direction. That’s how this works.”

“No it doesn’t,” McCann said. “I will champion this city until my last day in office. And I do not apologize for being a champion for this city until my final day in office.”

Last year, Winter Springs was audited by the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee [JLAC]. In December, the JLAC referred Winter Springs to the Florida Office of Chief Inspector General to see if a “financial emergency” exists in Winter Springs after financial figures discussed during a previous meeting were inaccurate. 

Since then Winter Springs turned in its 2022 audit financials late but, in that report, the city’s auditors found that the conditions of a financial emergency – things like not making payroll or not being able to make pension payments – do not exist.

At Monday’s meeting, Resnick asked the city attorney what powers the mayor has. In Winter Springs, the mayor only votes to break a tie, and can veto an ordinance passed by the city council, which would then require that ordinance to have four votes. 

“But when it comes to authority, it’s vested in the commission,” City Attorney Anthony Garganese said. “To the extent that the mayor conducts himself, it would be advisable that he not conflict with the direction of the commission.”

McCann said he agreed with that. Resnick then asked the mayor to share with commissioners the “big things going on.”

“Not when it’s going to damage our city,” McCann said. “Look, I was told very clearly, if they pulled up and there were TV cameras up front, they were turning around and leaving. They don’t want this silly show. I stand by my decision.”

Ultimately, no votes were taken about the issue. 

In an interview, Rep. David Smith told Oviedo Community News that he helped organize the meeting while Miguel was in Orlando for a conference. Smith was in the room during the conversations with Miguel – and said the inspector general offered to help if Winter Springs needed help submitting applications for low-interest loans. 

“She thanked everyone for the presentation, congratulated the mayor on the personnel issues, and said there was nothing to see here,” Smith said. “That’s almost verbatim. And I was sitting right next to her.”

The inspector general also met with former commissioner Greenberg. Greenberg said that the meeting lasted for nearly three hours. In posts online, Greenberg’s organization, the Winter Springs Community Association, has said that Winter Springs was under the “oversight” of the governor’s office – a phrase the mayor vehemently disagreed with. 

Greenberg said the mayor’s characterization of the meeting with the inspector general was wrong. However, the mayor and Smith both said they helped coordinate the visit. Calls and emails requesting an interview with Miguel were not returned before deadline. 

“What person would call and ask the inspector general please come in and evaluate our city?” Greenberg said in an interview with Oviedo Community News. “Does that even remotely make sense?” 

McCann said that Greenberg and the Winter Springs Community Association is “doing what they said they would always do – affect elections to aid development.”

“They are political activists. This is what he does for a living,” McCann said. “They want it switched to folks who will play ball in Winter Springs. They want to see the heavy development taking place in our neighboring cities. And we want to maintain our brand.”

In response, Jesse Phillips, President of the Winter Springs Community Association, said his organization is proud of its record against development. 

“These are not political issues,” Phillips said. “These are infrastructure issues affecting our quality of life. … It wasn’t a political conspiracy causing bridges to fail during a storm.”

Greenberg said that he does not plan to run for office again in Winter Springs, but his group is currently vetting candidates for November. 

“At this point I don’t have any intention of running,” Greenberg said.