The town of Summerfield is suing two of its former employees, former Town Manager Scott Whitaker and former Finance Officer Dee Hall. It's the latest in what's been a tumultuous year for residents. Over that period, the town parted ways with its longtime town manager, saw its entire staff resign, and raised the property tax rate out of concern for a bill filed in the General Assembly.
WFDD News Director Eddie Garcia recently sat down with Reporter DJ Simmons to learn more about how the recent lawsuit came about and what may be next for Summerfield.
Interview highlights
On what led to the lawsuit:
"In January of this year, former State Auditor Beth Wood told the Summerfield Town Council that months' worth of data from Town Manager Scott Whitaker's tenure was missing. Whitaker left his position in 2024. Her presentation also included allegations of improper payments and unauthorized expenses."
On what led to Whitaker's departure:
"In February of last year, the Town Council voted 4-1 to not renew Whitaker's contract, with one council member describing the contract as unfair and 'employee favored' at the time. It came as a shock to Whitaker. There's been a lot of reporting about that. It appeared the Council left the door open for renegotiating the contract, but that just never came to be. Then in May of that year, Summerfield's employees collectively resigned in support of Whitaker."
On how residents feel about the disruption or tension in the town:
"There's been a lot of tension. Some of it has even played out on Facebook and social media posts. But there was one meeting in particular that happened earlier this year where you had several residents speak out against the way that the report that was done by Beth Wood was handled, and how there seemed to have been a lot of allegations put forth without really doing kind of the legwork to see if there was credence to some of these allegations."