jesus - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T11:48:27Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/jesusDelray Beach: City pays de Jesus $136,000 upon exithttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-city-pays-de-jesus-136-000-upon-exit2020-05-20T17:43:33.000Z2020-05-20T17:43:33.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />When Neal de Jesus abruptly left the Delray Beach fire chief position earlier this year, he received $136,300.56. His contract called for 180 days’ pay, or $131,198.40. “The 180 was not severance,” City Attorney Lynn Gelin wrote in an April 15 email to the city manager. “Instead of keeping him on paid leave during the 180 (which would have included payment for his benefits, his housing allowance, his use of the city vehicle, and his phone allowance), this was how the matter was settled.”</p>
<p><br /> If it had been severance, de Jesus would have received only 20 weeks of pay, or $72,888, the maximum allowed under state law. City staff, including Gelin, declined to discuss the de Jesus payout, saying they do not discuss personnel matters.</p>
<p><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960958670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="110" height="172" alt="7960958670?profile=original" /></a>De Jesus, though, did not give 180 days’ notice. He resigned and left his city job on the same day, March 10. His annual salary was $189,508.80.</p>
<p><br /> He left during an investigation of sexual harassment claims involving a woman employee. De Jesus had hired the woman while he was serving his second stint as interim city manager.</p>
<p><br /> On Feb. 27, Gelin hired the labor law firm of Allen Norton & Blue to investigate the claim, based on allegations of suggestive texts that de Jesus had reportedly sent last fall. Suhaill Morales, of the firm’s Coral Gables office, issued a report on March 26 stating she had interviewed several female city workers, including department heads, along with the woman employee. She tried to interview de Jesus, but the ex-fire chief declined unless his lawyer was present.</p>
<p><br /> Morales found “insufficient evidence to conclude that (the woman employee) was subjected to unlawful harassment.”</p>
<p><br /> She recommended that all employees be issued copies of the city’s harassment and reporting policy and acknowledge receiving them with signed receipts. Also, Morales advised the city to provide its managers with training on its harassment and complaint procedures.</p>
<p><br /> Gelin declined to say whether she followed the suggestions, again saying the city does not comment on personnel matters.</p></div>Delray Beach: Fire chief resigns; city declines to explainhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/delray-beach-fire-chief-resigns-city-declines-to-explain2020-04-01T18:16:31.000Z2020-04-01T18:16:31.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p></p>
<p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Delray Beach Fire Chief Neal de Jesus abruptly resigned on March 10, according to an email he sent to the city manager.</p>
<p><br /> Keith Tomey, assistant fire chief, took over as interim chief at a 10% boost to his salary, City Manager George Gretsas decided.<br />The city gave no public explanation for the unexpected departure of de Jesus, who is in his late 50s.</p>
<p><br /> “I feel my time has come to move on and focus more on my family,” he wrote on March 10.</p>
<p><br /> “The city does not comment on personnel matters,” Gina Carter, Delray Beach spokeswoman, said in a March 24 email.</p>
<p><br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960941670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960941670,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="149" height="230" alt="7960941670?profile=original" /></a>De Jesus’ most recent salary was $175,684. His temporary $2,000 monthly housing allowance was made permanent in March 2017 while he was serving his first stint as interim city manager.</p>
<p><br /> He left the city with 180 days’ pay and three months of health insurance to June, according to a city memo.</p>
<p><br /> At the Sept. 10 City Commission special meeting, commissioners agreed to double de Jesus’ severance to 180 days and not require that he have a college degree. The vote was 3-2 with Mayor Shelly Petrolia and Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson dissenting.</p>
<p><br /> In response to a public records request made by The Coastal Star, the city attorney’s office responded that it is unable to release documents involving de Jesus because there is an ongoing investigation.</p>
<p><br /> De Jesus came to Delray Beach in March 2016 to be the fire chief. He has nearly four decades of experience in the fire-rescue field. He started as a firefighter in Sarasota County at age 18.</p>
<p><br /> De Jesus retired from Coral Gables Fire-Rescue in 2002 after a 20-year career with that city. In 2010, he resigned after two years as a city commissioner of Cooper City to join the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue and Emergency Services. He left that position in 2013 after the election of Sheriff Scott Israel.</p>
<p><br /> In late December 2016, de Jesus was recognized for his leadership skills by then-City Commissioner Mitch Katz. He recommended de Jesus for the interim city manager opening.</p>
<p><br /> De Jesus then served as interim city manager and returned to his fire chief position in November 2017. He became interim manager again in March 2019 until Gretsas arrived on Jan. 6.</p>
<p><br /> De Jesus served as the point man in the city’s investigation of its reclaimed water issues from February until his resignation.</p></div>Highland Beach: Nativity kidnapping tarnishes New Year’shttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/highland-beach-nativity-kidnapping-tarnishes-new-year-s2020-01-29T17:10:15.000Z2020-01-29T17:10:15.000ZMary Kate Leminghttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/MaryKateLeming769<div><p class="p1" style="text-align:center;"><br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960921884,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960921884,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-center" alt="7960921884?profile=original" /></a><em>Baby Jesus lay in his manger at St. Lucy Catholic Church before he was stolen Jan. 1 and taken to Broward County. He was returned several days later. <b>Photo provided</b></em></p>
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<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>By Rich Pollack</b></span></p>
<p class="p3">It was a whodunit with biblical overtones — and a mysterious happy ending.</p>
<p class="p3">In broad daylight on New Year’s Day, a brazen thief sprinted across State Road A1A and absconded with the baby Jesus statuette from the Nativity at St. Lucy Catholic Church. </p>
<p class="p3">The thief, described by witnesses as a woman in her 20s, ran with baby Jesus in her arms back to a waiting car that sped away.</p>
<p class="p3">For six days the culprits were on the lam while some of the wisest men in the Highland Beach Police Department searched for the missing statuette.</p>
<p class="p3">Then, almost a week after the heist, the congregation’s prayers were answered when staff at St. Lucy learned the missing Jesus had been found in the parking lot of a Catholic church in Parkland. Nearby was a note that said: “Please return to St. Andrew’s Church in Delray Beach. God bless.”</p>
<p class="p3">Although there is no such place in Delray Beach, members of the church in Broward County did some detective work of their own and contacted St. Lucy’s.</p>
<p class="p3">“Thank God it came back,” said Jeanette Schmitz, St. Lucy’s director of family life and Catholic outreach.</p>
<p class="p3">The significance of the name of the Parkland church — Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church — wasn’t lost on Schmitz or others in the St. Lucy congregation.</p>
<p class="p3">“Jesus was returned back to Mary,” she said. “When you look at it that way, it’s the perfect ending to the story.”</p>
<p class="p3">Although police had some pretty strong leads, the Rev. D. Brian Horgan, St. Lucy’s pastor, told investigators his congregation had no interest in pursuing the investigation.</p>
<p class="p3">“We got back what we had asked for,” Schmitz said. “In the spirit of the season, it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.”</p>
<p class="p3">This season marked the first time that St. Lucy’s had a Nativity in the front of the church, just steps away from State Road A1A. But it ran out of time and didn’t secure the Jesus with rebar on Christmas Eve.</p>
<p class="p3">The parishioners were excited about the Nativity, Schmitz said, and raised close to $20,000 in just two weeks to pay for the life-size statues. Were baby Jesus not found, Schmitz said, the church would have needed to purchase a whole new Nativity, because the statues are sold only as a package. </p>
<p class="p3">While the new baby Jesus was gone, the church tried to put a substitute statue — one it had kept from years ago — in the creche, but found it wasn’t the right fit and removed it.</p>
<p class="p3">“It just looked so hokey,” Schmitz said.</p>
<p class="p3">Schmitz said the congregation prayed for the return of the statue as did many Highland Beach residents.</p>
<p class="p3">“It just meant so much to the community to have it back,” she said.</p>
<p class="p3">The church is planning to put the Nativity back close to the road next holiday season, and baby Jesus — tightly tethered — will be there come Christmas Eve.</p>
<p class="p3">“Next year, he’ll be rebar’d in,” Schmitz said. </p></div>South Palm Beach: New clerk sworn inhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/south-palm-beach-new-clerk-sworn-in2016-02-04T15:00:00.000Z2016-02-04T15:00:00.000ZChris Felkerhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/ChrisFelker<div><p style="text-align:center;"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960628088,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img width="500" class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960628088,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="7960628088?profile=original" /></a><em>South Palm Beach Mayor Bonnie Fischer, left, congratulates new Town Clerk Maylee De Jesus</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><em>after De Jesus was sworn in during the Jan. 26 council meeting. With De Jesus are her daughters, Marializ, left, and Veronica.</em></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>Willie Howard/The Coastal Star</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align:left;"><strong>By Willie Howard<br /> <br /></strong> With more than a dozen family members and friends watching, Maylee De Jesus was officially sworn in as South Palm Beach’s new town clerk during the council’s Jan. 26 meeting. <br /> De Jesus has been working for the town since Jan. 11. In addition to serving as clerk, she will serve as assistant to Town Manager Bogdan “Bob” Vitas Jr., who started working for the town in November. <br /> Her $50,000 annual salary will increase to $52,000 if she successfully completes a six-month probationary period in July.<br /> De Jesus comes to South Palm Beach from the village of Palm Springs, where she spent nearly nine years as assistant deputy clerk. She replaces former clerk Yudy Alvarez, who resigned in December.<br /> Also during the Jan. 26 meeting, the Town Council:<br /> • Scheduled a workshop meeting with the town manager to discuss plans and goals, including the town’s budget and a long-term strategic plan. The workshop, open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at Town Hall.<br /> • Discussed a possible beach-access agreement with the Palmsea condo and neighboring property owners who have rights to the easement. Vice Mayor Joseph Flagello, who serves as president of the Palmsea association, said the condo’s board would consider a town easement for emergencies and beach restoration, but not for repair of seawalls at neighboring condos. Liability also was a concern, he said.<br /> • Heard Vitas’ report on efforts to secure easements from town property owners for a comprehensive beach stabilization project. Vitas said he hopes to have the easements in place by June. The beach stabilization work is not expected to begin until 2018.<br /> • Approved a resolution supporting efforts by the town of Lake Clarke Shores and neighboring towns to build a boat lift at the Lake Worth Spillway that would give small boats access to the Intracoastal Waterway from the lakes and canals to the west.<br /> • Heard a police report on car burglaries. Police Cmdr. Robert Rizzotto showed a security camera video (<a href="http://thecoastalstar.ning.com/video/parking-garage-video">available here</a>) of thieves checking car doors in the parking garage of a town condo. The thieves found only one car unlocked and took a jacket from the trunk, Rizzotto said. They later stole a car in Palm Beach. Police Chief Carl Webb urged residents to lock their cars, remove valuables and to call the police if they notice something unusual.</p></div>