DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — One of the employees the Office of Inspector General in Palm Beach County blamed for issues in the Riviera Beach Special Utility District lost his job at Delray Beach.
A spokesperson for the city of Delray Beach said Dr. Anthony Williams resigned from his position as an environmental compliance manager two weeks ago on November 20. The resignation comes two days after the Office of Inspector General accused Dr. Williams of intentionally failing to report water quality testing results to the Florida Department of Health and provided false, altered or misleading information to the state agency.
Specifically, the Office of Inspector General discusses Dr. Williams in sending water quality tests without positive tests for total coliform and other bacteria, acting as indicators of human or animal waste. The city is awaiting a possible fine for this potential violation.
PAST PROBLEMS UNDER DR. WILLIAMS
Records we’ve obtained from an open records from the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County included an internal investigation from the city of Riviera Beach’s Special Utility District. The investigation said Dr. Williams terminated his employment on June 8. 2023 and didn’t return to work for his two week notice except for June 14, 2023.
The investigation suggested his leave was the cause for the city incorrectly retesting a water sample that tested positive for water contamination, which resulted in a fine worth about $80,000.
Dr. Williams also was also the compliance manager when the city didn’t send multiple water quality tests to the Florida Department of Health. This resulted in a fine worth $1.2 million, partially due to the city’s history of noncompliance.
It’s unclear if the Florida Department of Health or the City of Delray Beach had similar problems under Dr. William’s tenure. The city didn’t answer follow-up questions other than confirming his employment with the city ended.
We reached out to Dr. Williams attorney, who didn’t immediately return comment. But, his attorneys told the Office of Inspector General that the denied the OIG’s finding’s regarding any and all misconduct along with their conclusions, summaries and opinions regarding any statements made by Dr. Williams to the OIG.
NO DATE SET FOR RIVIERA BEACH
There is still no set date for Riviera Beach Council Members to discuss the Inspector General’s Report two weeks after council member’s committed to finding a date at a previous meeting.
A small group of people said they were frustrated council members haven’t discussed the report, which found various problems in the city’s utility district.
Derrick Burns, who lives in Riviera Beach, said he’s frustrated a date hasn’t been selected yet and Wednesday’s council meeting was canceled. He said he believes the city is working to avoid accountability.
“They act as if we don’t care,” Burns said. “And we do care because we are residents here. We live here in the city of Riviera Beach…We just want them to be transparent with us.”
WPTV reached out to the city of Riviera Beach about the reason a date hasn’t been selected as of Wednesday late and didn’t hear back by publication.
