Note: This is the story as it appears in the July print edition of The Coastal Star. A more detailed version is available online: Investigation finds code director’s complaints against vice mayor ‘unsubstantiated’
By John Pacenti
Accusations that rocked Delray Beach apparatchiks for weeks came to an end June 27 when an independent investigator found the claim by a recently hired director that her job was threatened by Vice Mayor Rob Long to be “unsubstantiated.”
Still, the investigator — attorney Brooke Ehrlich — found plenty of room for improvement, recommending City Manager Terrence Moore stop his practice of conference calls with city employees and individual commissioners. She also recommended that commissioners stop directly contacting city directors — and, if they do, ensure the city attorney or internal auditor is on the line.
In the meantime and before the investigation’s conclusion, the center of the storm — Rodney Mayo, lightning rod restaurant and coffee shop owner — decided to pour gasoline over
the already raging fire by releasing a scathing email that blasted the director who leveled the complaint: Jeri Pryor, the neighborhood and community services director who also oversees code enforcement.
“Was there any due diligence, background checks or concern of Mrs. Pryor’s past job performance and strange anomalies? Is this the best hire the city of Delray can offer its residents?” he wrote.
The investigation’s report redacts Pryor’s name, but The Coastal Star previously identified her as the complainant, citing a leaked document.
Pryor did not return a phone call for comment.
Pryor accused Moore and Long of telling her in a Feb. 20 conference call to “stand down” on code enforcement for Mayo’s Subculture coffee shop and his restaurant Dada. She said they “threatened her employment,” according to the report.
The 52-page report — obtained by The Coastal Star July 1 through a public records request — also found “unsubstantiated” Pryor’s complaint that Moore directed her to go soft on businesses represented by the Downtown Development Authority.
“With the conclusion of this investigation, the City remains committed to fostering a respectful and supportive work environment,” Moore said in a July 1 statement.
“We look forward to strengthening leadership within Neighborhood and Community Services and across all departments to ensure positive, productive relationships both internally and in service to our community.”
Long emailed a statement, saying the complaint called his integrity into question.
“The report also raises legitimate concerns about the reliability of the complainant’s account. She waited two months to raise her complaint, never brought her concerns to her direct supervisor, and acknowledged that her decision to file was shaped by prior trauma in a different workplace,” Long said.
“Those factors, combined with the absence of corroborating evidence and the consistent accounts of multiple witnesses, speak for themselves. I’m grateful that the facts are now on the record.”
Pryor, when she was working as chief of staff for Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Warren Sturman, filed a complaint against Commissioner Steve Glassman there for using an expletive in her presence on Jan. 9, 2024. Pryor accused Glassman of “violent, hostile and aggressive behavior.”
The investigator in that case concluded that Glassman’s comments did not constitute harassment or bullying.
Another significant finding in the Delray Beach report: Pryor was not considered a whistleblower. Pryor had claimed protection under the state law, stating that Long and Moore violated the city’s charter by telling her to engage in “selective enforcement.”
“Whether or not (Pryor) engaged in a protected disclosure is unnecessary to examine in this matter, given that ultimately, no adverse employment action has been taken by the City against (Pryor) since the time her disclosure was made,” Ehrlich found.
Pryor was hired in January and Moore said he felt the phone call was more of an introduction between her and Long.
Long said he felt the phone call was cordial.
Both men denied putting any pressure on Pryor to go easy on Mayo’s establishments but said the conversation may have addressed prioritizing “big” code violations, rather than “small” ones.
Mayo’s Dada had been cited for using an A-frame sign, which is prohibited by the city.
Mayo said he went on the offensive with his email because he is being singled out and targeted for political reasons.
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