COMPLAINTS IGNORED: Report gives clues to Riviera Beach city manager's suspension

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — An investigative report obtained by WPTV claims Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans could have "neglect of duty" after not responding to various complaints of racism, sexual harassment, favoritism and retaliation from city staff.

Evans' suspension letter doesn't specify the reason for his suspension beyond "neglect of duty." The report provides insight into Mayor Ronnie Fielder's decision to suspend Evans for two weeks, first reported by WPTV.

Paula Reyes, who is a senior staff assistant at the Riviera Beach Library and former city employee of the year, told investigators of unprofessional behavior, including instances of sexual harassment. She described to investigators situations where a supervisor followed her to the bathroom and another instance when she saw two employees make sexual gestures. Reyes also said she once found her computer stabbed while being denied promotions.

Reyes' story is one of 33 voluntary interviews with various current and former city employees, making up a 52-page report on the culture within the city of Riviera Beach. Our news team obtained recordings of those interviews, which contain more than 36 hours of audio between employees and an attorney hired by the mayor's office to conduct the investigation.

READ THE REPORT:

Reyes, like several others, said she reported the behaviors to supervisors and human resources, but claimed both instances were ignored — once by officials at human resources and another time by Assistant City Manager Deirdre Jacobs, who she said asked her why women were attracted to a specific employee.

According to the report, employees indicated Jacobs has certain employees who are inside her "sandbox" who she can control and depend on to report back to her throughout the city.

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Malcolm Sommons, who worked for the city for 25 years before retiring as a manager in public works, described these people as puppets and said he was "too nice" to get chosen as a favorite.

"If you're willing to be a puppet, If you're willing to do whatever it takes to ruin an employee's quality of life, work life, then they were picked and chosen," he told investigators.

Ricky Sapp, who was a public works employee for 13 years, said he never got the opportunity to do overtime because he wasn't a favorite. He said all the overtime for his department went to one employee rather than follow their union contract.

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"Here they have one person, who gets it all," he said "...He's cool with me. I'm not trying to throw nobody under the bus, but I'm just trying to get some transparency and fairness here. That's not happening."

Employees also complained about racism from various supervisors along with other unprofessional behaviors like cursing, screaming and threats of physical violence that went unchecked.

HR PROBLEMS

Interim Special Project Manager for the City's Community Redevelopment Area Neimah Spence gave investigators a complaint he made to HR in 2022 after he said a supervisor who didn't like him was giving him poor performance reviews that never occurred. He said he asked for updates, but never heard back from officials.

"I sort of let it go because I didn't want to keep poking the bear and bringing more attention to myself," Spence said to investigators.

Andrea Joseph, who worked at the city's HR department before moving to the city clerk's office, said a former human resources director screamed and cursed in the office. She said she didn't complain because there was nobody to complain to.

"If you're new coming into an environment and that's how that person's behavior is, you're not going to say something," she said. "...like you said there's nobody else. [Human resources are] the ones who do the hiring and the firing."

The independent investigator informed Joseph that only the city manager could make hiring and firing decisions in her interview. Joseph said she didn't know that during her time in the office.

The independent investigator concluded the majority of the employees interviewed said Assistant City Manager Deirdre Jacobs was the source and cause of their negative experiences as an employee of the city of Riviera Beach.

"It appears that Deirdre Jacobs' conduct in the workplace is hostile toward people who are not in the sandbox and who are not willing to be controlled," the report said.

However, the investigator said City Manager Jonathan Evans allowed Jacobs to create the environment, as her supervisor. She also said Evans did not act when employees made the city manager aware of Jacobs' actions.

WPTV attempted to reach out to all the individuals named in our reporting and we didn't hear back from anybody by publication. However, at a previous meeting, Jacobs described the report to WPTV's Ethan Stein off-camera as "lies."