More than a week after Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans was fired, the three city council members who voted to terminate him have yet to reveal their reasons as to why they did it.
Council members Terence Davis and Lynne Hubbard said during Wednesday's city council meeting that they would explain their reasons next Wednesday.
“I make my comments at the next meeting," Hubbard said on Wednesday.
Councilwoman Dawn Pardo told NewsChannel 5 that she won't be able to comment at all due to a recent lawsuit.
“I was going to wait until a public hearing," Pardo said. "But, as I said, a lawsuit was filed today and our city attorney told us not to comment on the city manager.”
NewsChannel 5 confirmed with the City Attorney that he in fact did advise all council members not to comment after this lawsuit was filed.
Tadrick McCoy, who filed the lawsuit, said he took legal action to learn the truth.
“You (the city council members) make these decision arbitrarily and you (Davis) state that you have these documents to support the termination," McCoy said. "That is information that needs to be immediately made available.”
Davis had stated that he will produce the documents that support his decision to fire Evans at some point.
NewsChannel 5 asked for those documents in a public records request.
On Thursday, the city responded saying that they have no such documents.
In an email to a Riviera Beach neighbor, provided to NewsChannel 5 by a viewer, Councilwoman Pardo explained why she voted to fire Evans.
“I supported their motion based largely upon the feedback I had been receiving from a number of resident (…), including a group of well respected ministers."
She did not elaborate which ministers or what their reasoning was.
According to sources, a group of people opposed to Evans met at the Hurst Chapel Thursday night, including Councilman Davis and Riviera Police Chief Clarence Williams.
McCoy and many others in the community are still waiting for answers.
