MOUNT DORA, Fla. — Mount Dora’s controversial City Manager agreed to leave his position hours before he was supposed to publicly rebut accusations made against him in a labor attorney’s report, city staff said.
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The city spokeswoman said Patrick Comiskey signed a separation agreement, which city council members will review during their regular meeting Tuesday night.
Comiskey was suspended in January following the publication of the 62-page report, which claimed he micromanaged departments, slow-walked hirings, interfered in police operations, and pushed aside employees he believed were a threat to him or his assistant.
The report recommended his and his assistant’s terminations. The assistant resigned in January.
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Comiskey downplayed or denied some of the findings while accepting others. In turn, his supporters accused the mayor of working against him after he didn’t agree to some of her requests and said the city was withholding public records he needed for his defense.
Comiskey’s agreement to separate came as a surprise, with his wife offering no indication it was on the verge of happening when she wrote a long email defending her husband shortly before midnight Tuesday.
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“They see this for what it is; a mayor’s ugly hit job to oust an effective manager who has refused to bend his 30 years of professional ethics and morals for her. But you can see the community response for yourself,” Jane Comiskey said. “I hope you’ll be at Tuesday night’s council meeting.”
Comiskey is far from the first manager to see an early exit from Mount Dora. The city has long had problems finding and retaining city managers and other senior staff, with political differences and allegations of mismanagement causing a revolving door stretching back decades.
WFTV has requested a copy of Comiskey’s separation agreement from the city clerk.
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