PALATKA, Fla. — The Palatka City Commission terminated City Manager Troy Bell's employment during a Thursday meeting, citing he violated city policy.
Commissioners argued Bell violated policy by authorizing a $50,000 payment to a promoter for the Blue Crab Festival.
A city manager needs commission approval to release funds over $25,000, and commissioners said Bell did not get their approval.
During the commission meeting, Bell said he thought he had the authority to authorize the funds and argued he had to act fast to secure the promoter.
Bell said there was no "nefarious intent" in not getting the commission's authorization on the funds, and even said he "went to staff" and asked for clarity on his authority to authorize the funds on his own.
"I thought, based on the information that I was given, that I had the authority to do what I did," said Bell. "That's the only reason why I did that. Otherwise, I would not have."
One commissioner accused Bell of lying about the situation and argued with him before they were cut off by other commissioners.
Commissioners ultimately voted 4-1 to terminate Bell's employment at the end of the meeting which lasted more than six hours.
The commission appointed City Finance Director Marcia Cardy as interim city manager.
This isn't the first time Bell has been at the center of commission discourse.
First Coast News reported in July that commissioners called a special meeting to discuss Bell's time off requests and claims that Bell facilitated a "difficult work environment" under his management.
Bell's contract said he had 20 days of vacation time a year, at the time of the meeting in July, he had taken 15 days off. But, the commissioner's main concern was that Bell was getting his time off approved by the city's human resource manager.
Commissioners ultimately agreed that they would be the ones to approve Bell's time off since protocol stated a supervisor should approve time off requests.
In the same meeting, commissioners passed an emergency motion to open an investigation into Bell following a complaint from a city employee who worked under him.
Commissioners had held another special meeting on Aug. 6, the day before Bell's probational period was set to end, to discuss his future with the city.
Bell was hired as city manager in February 2024.
First Coast News reached out to Bell for comment and has not heard back.