LC City Manager Paul Dyal: Before Resigning, Mr. Dyal Was Hired In Alaska – On the City Docket Tonight – Dyal’s Severance Pay
May 6, 2024 3:30 pm | 9 min read
In a rush to get to Homer, Alaska, without the LC background, start here.
Photo: Mckayla Crump via Unsplash | Columbia
County Observer graphic
By
Stew Lilker
LAKE CITY, FL – Another chapter in the saga of resigned LC City Manager Paul Dyal will play out tonight in City Hall, as the City Council decides how to proceed with the questionable and thought to be illegal severance payout of its last City Manager – Mr. Dyal.
For over two years, beginning on December 22, 2021, Mr. Dyal has, in one form or another, been either the interim or city manager of Lake City. While his rude and obnoxious behavior was widely known, his trust factor was questioned by his supporters when, as interim manager, Mr. Dyal was on the record that he would leave major decisions and appointments to the next city manager.
Untrue to his words and supported by his bankruptcy attorney, LC Mayor Stephen Witt, and the rest of the Council, Mr. Dyal permanently appointed both the police chief and fire chief on March 18, 2022.
In January 2022, the City Council refused to hold then Interim City Manager Dyal to the ICMA (International City Manager's Association) to its Code of Ethics. Why: he said he wasn’t a member.
The City Council also refused to do a background check on Mr. Dyal.
As reported earlier, Mr. Dyal took off to Alaska on July 13 to July 19 for an interview in Ketchikan, AK, to interview for the City manager job.
Finally, on January 3, 2023, Mr. Dyal was appointed permanent LC City Manager at $150,000 a year on a 4-1 vote.
During the January 3 meeting, Councilman Sampson noted Mr. Dyal's remarks to the Ketchikan City Council: “Just to be clear. I have been asked to be the City Manager of Lake City. I have declined that position because I talked to the Mayor before I left. The Mayor knows I'm applying for this position here. This is the position that I want, and I didn't think it was fair for me to accept the position in Lake City when I really had no intentions of wanting to continue to be there."
Mr. Dyal also told the folks in Ketchikan that the people in Lake City were not friendly. Questioned about that, Mr. Dyal said, sometimes you have to lie. After his Alaskan trip, Mr. Dyal mentioned to a high-ranking County official that the Mayor told him he did not have to take personal time off for his Alaska trip. He received his full salary for his time away from LC.
Mr. Dyal has not acted alone. But did he give up on Alaska? Did he really want to be LC City Manager?
Ex-Lake City City Manager Paul Dyal's $ 1/4
Million Resignation Payout Questioned. After 9
Months on the Job, the City Council Is Asking
Questions
The Dyal contracts, payout, and separation
agreement are in this article.
September 19, 2023: Paul Dyal Resigns
Did LC City Manager Paul Dyal really want to be
LC City Manager?
On September 19, 2023, City Manager Paul Dyal resigned his permanent LC City Manager position after only 9 months. Mr. Dyals resignation letter is here.
But that was not the whole story.
Back to Alaska
Despite what Mr. Dyal said and the confidence that some of the Council members had in Mr. Dyal, Mr. Dyal wanted to be in Alaska.
On July 13, 2023, Homer posted a job opening for Public Works Director on its internal network.
Mr. Dyal wastes no time in applying.
On July 20, 2023, the City of Homer, Alaska, advertised for a public works director. The job announcement was online and advertised in the Homer News, a local print newspaper.
On July 22, 2023, two days after the publication of the position, Mr. Dyal submitted his application to Homer for the public works director position.
Mr. Dyal also provided his resume. Adding to his credentials, he was now the City Manager/Utilities Director of Lake City.
A few months after Mr. Dyal completed his application in Homer, your reporter received a call from Homer, AK. The person spoke under the condition of anonymity.
It was reported that Mr. Dyal had gone to Homer, AK, for an interview around the end of August, and then Homer hired him in September.
Mr. Dyal did go back to Homer, Alaska, looking for employment while he was LC City Manager; apparently before he submitted his resignation on September 19, 2023.
On September 14, 2023, Mr. Dyal signed the City of Homer's offer of employment, agreed to a background check, something he would not allow Lake City to do, and was offered a $9,000 recruitment bonus, which appeared to be a bonus for quitting is City Manager job in Lake City.
It was reported that he (Dyal) was supposedly going to come up in a month, and "it seemed like sometime in October, he came up."
“He was here for a day, like one day.” Mr. Dyal purportedly went to dinner with the Homer City Manager.
It was reported that Mr. Dyal flew out the next day because he had "some kind of a medical emergency" and that Homer had been holding the position for him for the last six weeks.
Your reporter's conversation occurred in December, and the reported dates may have been fuzzed a little over time.
It was also reported that Mr. Dyal was introduced to people in Homer as the next Public Works Director.
By the beginning of December 2023, Mr. Dyal still had not started his new Alaska job.
January 2024
It appears Mr. Dyal finally showed up at the beginning of January 2024 to begin his new job in Homer.
It was reported that Mr. Dyal was in Homer for “like two days and bailed.”
It was thought that Mr. Dyal claimed a medical condition.
On May 19, 2023, your reporter filed a public record request with the City of Homer for the “Termination and/or resignation letter(s) regarding the employment of Paul Dyal by the City of Homer.”
On May 1, 2024, your reporter received a response from the City of Homer. "No written records exist. The matter was handled verbally."
Epilogue
In March 2024, the City Manager of Homer was fired. It is unclear if the Dyal affair had anything to do with it.
Tonight, knowing the rest of the Dyal Alaska story, it will be interesting to see what the LC City Council does about reclaiming the severance payout orchestrated by City Attorney Todd Kennon and LC Mayor Stephen Witt.
