Stuart, in less than six months, has lost more than 50 years of institutional knowledge and experience at City Hall.
Louis Boglioli III — a veteran employee of the city of Stuart — was forced out of his temporary job as interim city manager by a city commissioner, he told TCPalm.
But that’s not the story the public is getting.
Boglioli declined to name the commissioner. He said he was “volun-told” to step down “exactly 10 minutes before” the Jan. 12 City Commission meeting.
In interviews with TCPalm, four city commissioners denied pushing Bogioli, the city’s finance director and a 30-plus-year city employee, out of the interim city manager post.
For his part, though, Mayor Christopher Collins told TCPalm in a Feb. 12 text he had “communicated to Mr. Boglioli that even though I knew he was willing to sacrifice and come back from Alabama (where he was working remotely) while we hired a new manager, I planned on recommending Mrs. (Roz) Strong (the city Human Resources director) step in as interim manager.”
Just three months earlier, Collins had joined the rest of the commission in appointing Boglioli to the position of interim city manager.
“I didn’t request to step down,” Boglioli told TCPalm Feb. 11. He took on the role of interim city manager Nov. 10 after the City Commission fired Michael Mortell Oct. 27.
Accolades and a raise, and then the boot
At both the Dec. 8 and Jan. 12 City Commission meetings, Boglioli received accolades from the commission, and a 10% increase in pay Dec. 8 for his work as interim city manager … and then replaced.
After being forced out, Boglioli went back to work as city finance director, then abruptly quit. He said he was asked to take actions that were illegal, immoral and unethical, which he refused to do.
“I didn’t want to resign” as finance director, he said. “I left for my own moral and ethical well-being.”
Mortell, the former city manager, had approved Boglioli working remotely from Alabama for family reasons.
Is something shady?
Sensing something might be shady, City Commissioner Campbell Rich announced Feb. 9 he would call for an investigation into Boglioli’s tenure as interim city manager, the end of his time as finance director and Strong’s appointment as interim city manager.
Strong, who has been human resources director since 2010, is now holding down three top city positions: human resources director, interim city manager and interim finance director, city officials said.
Rich said he would ask to have City Attorney Lee Baggett investigate whether “there were any violations of the Code of Conduct by any members of the commission or any employees of the city of Stuart.”
No conspiracy
“We had him here in finance from Alabama,” Collins said of Boglioli at the Feb. 9 commission meeting. “We asked him to step in for that two- or three-month period, and that was a lot. He was planning on retiring a year before. Mike (Mortell) asked him to stay on and do this work remote.
“There’s not some larger conspiracy here, which is what it sounds like,” Collins told Rich. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Between the the loss of Mortell and now Boglioli, the City Commission has forced out more than 60 years of city experience, Rich said earlier.
“No city can prosper with such a disregard for historical knowledge and proven commitment,” he said.
Moreover, the part-time assistant finance director has resigned, and the temporary procurement manager is scaling back her hours, city officials said, deepening that experience deficit.
Mortell was fired without cause following 22 years of experience with the city. He served as a commissioner for 10 years, later as city attorney for 10 years before becoming city manager in 2023.
“I don’t appreciate this sort of casting shade around and trying to throw instability in the mix, like the city will never recover,” Collins said at the Feb. 9 commission meeting, referring to Rich’s remarks earlier in the meeting.
“If there’s some kind of issue,” Collins said, “you should talk to staff about that, not come in here and throw a grenade to create the appearance of there being some larger conspiracy that the public has to worry about because there’s not.”
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at [email protected] and at 720-288-6882.
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