BOYNTON BEACH -After months of back-and-forth allegations, the city commissioners, acting as the Community Redevelopment Board, voted 4-1 not to renew the contract of Lisa Bright, the CRA executive director.
Commissioner Woodrow Hay cast the dissenting vote.
The decision came just days after commissioners were hand-delivered the final report from a private investigator hired in August to look into the ties between Bright and one of the CRA's vendors. The investigation concluded Bright did not disclose the connections to the board.
Bright's contract would have automatically renewed for another year at the end of September. The board voted at last week's CRA meeting to put Bright on administrative leave with pay, but the commissioners were split 2-2 on not renewing Bright's contract, with Commissioner Bill Orlove undecided.
Commissioner Marlene Ross, who spoke in support of Bright last week, said that her decision was made based on the findings of the investigation.
"Based on all of these reports, I can see that according to this information, some procedures were not followed and some disclosures were not made," she said.
Orlove said that he found some information revealed in the report to be "troubling."
"In my opinion, Lisa Bright, as a government employee, should have disclosed her relationship regarding Joseph Ferrer to the CRA Board and let it determine the outcome of the contracts," he said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, prior to the discussion about the investigation, Bright's attorney, Isidro Garcia, spoke on behalf on his client, calling the investigation a "witch hunt."
The report states that evidence shows that Bright has known the vendor, Joseph Ferrer, for at least 10 years, and that she lived at and leased a cottage on Ferrer's property prior to her employment with the Boynton CRA.
It also says that Bright was "untruthful or misleading" at a July 20 CRA Board meeting when she publicly said that she never lived at Ferrer's home and only used that address to get her daughter into a different school.
Hay, who voiced his support for Bright last week, said tonight that Bright should be given back her job.
"The problem is not the CRA," he said. "The problem is the CRA Board. I've lost confidence in many of us who are sitting up here with me tonight."
Bright, who sat calmly composed in the audience during the discussion, declined to comment after the vote was made. She will get a severance package of 150 days paid, according to her contract. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office also is investigating Bright, according to Bright's attorney, but the reason is not known.
Due to time constraints, the commissioners voted to table the appointment of a seven-member independent CRA Board until the Oct. 5 commission meeting.
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