The woman who almost became the new Riviera Beach city manager on two occasions has allegedly threatened a Riviera Beach sergeant to not take actions against her because she will be “the next city manager”.
Contact 5 obtained a memo the sergeant wrote to his supervisors, including interim Police Chief Madden.
The sergeant said he felt the need to write the memo because “I do not take this threat lightly.”
It all started when code enforcement told Smith to move her RV, which is parked in front of a property on Avenue R in Riviera Beach.
Code enforcement said it had been parked there illegally for several weeks and needed to be moved.
When an officer went out there to make contact with the owner, the officer said Smith became “loud and irate”. The officer was told by her supervisor to give a verbal warning and leave.
Afterwards, Smith contacted the sergeant and told him the officer was sent over to the RV to “intimidate and harass” her.
“Smith said it will not be tolerated and she was going to be the next city manager and my boss,” the memo reads.
The sergeant also said Smith went on to say: “Do you know what that means Sergeant?”
That prompted the sergeant to write the memo: “I do not take this threat lightly. I do not know who this lady is, nor have I ever met her. But I was informed that she was just recently nominated to be city manager. I need to immediately document this encounter I had with her for future reference.”
The encounter happened just a few days after Smith almost became city manager.
On Feb. 7, council members Terence Davis and Lynne Hubbard motioned to hire Smith on the spot during a city council meeting.
Davis and Hubbard both voted to fire former City Manager Jonathan Evans.
Smith has no government experience and Contact 5 could find no record of the companies she claims to be CFO of.
Council even changed the requirements for the city manager position, now no longer requiring government experience. A perfect match for Smith.
In November, council interviewed Smith for the interim city manager position but she lost to Karen Hoskins.
Council member Davis claimed to have met Smith during a luncheon shortly before the interview, but Contact 5 found the two had a phone conversation the day after Davis fired Smith. They also exchanged text messages, which WPTV has requested but has not received.
On Feb. 23, Smith emailed City Attorney Andrew DeGraffenreidt, saying she was being “harassed, intimidated, isolated, and singled out in front of my children by code enforcement and law enforcement” due to her posts on social media.
Smith has been very vocal on social media since returning to Riviera Beach at the end of 2017. She has defended the three city council members who voted to fire Evans. She also engaged in arguments with residents, calling several “roaches”.
In the letter to the city attorney she’s asking him to step in and tell the city’s employees to “cease and desist”.
The city and code enforcement did not respond to our request if the RV is still parked in front of the residence. When a WPTV crew drove by the property, the RV was no longer parked there.
When a new city manager will be hired is still unclear.
