Ty Ross: Give Him Another Chance or Send Him on His Way?

The truth takes its own sweet time.

We know the truth that City Manager Ty Ross got drunk one evening in late October. We know the truth that he tried to ride his bicycle home but crashed. We know the policeman who picked him up cut him some slack, didn’t administer a breathalyzer test (which he had every right to do) and gave Mr. Ross and his bent-up bicycle a ride home. All true.

And now we know that Mr. Ross thought he could keep the event under wraps. Not true. We know he didn’t even tell his bosses, who are the city commission. They began to hear the truth a month later when gossip, reporter calls and a formal records request by the Observer popped the lid off.

Now the records request has produced a police bodycam video of a drunk guy sitting in the grass trying to deal politely – but not very coherently -- with a police officer.

We know all that, but we are far from knowing important truths about our new city manager. In other venues has he been equally slow to tell the truth? Why did he try to blow off a public event that city personnel guidelines and common sense say is not his to hide? He apologized – though not fulsomely. He cited stress and a need for professional help – but not in any way that would make the average layperson think he will shape up pretty soon.

What do we really know about this man? Not much. More truth is needed.

Yet the bosses he blew off at first will meet next week to decide what they should do.

Public opinion might not be helpful. The Observer’s reader comments so far lean slightly to giving the guy another chance and slightly more to saying he needs to go.

A friend of mine and I were talking about this and think the people who say he needs to go most likely are present or former managers who have been responsible for large groups of people. They know the critical importance of enforcing behavioral regulations from top to bottom. That’s a big part of how a group of workers becomes a team. From top to bottom we have high standards. No exceptions.

The people who want to give Mr. Ross another chance have good hearts, my friend and I think. The world needs as many good-hearted people as it can get. It needs a tilt toward forgiveness. But does Fernandina Beach need Mr. Ross? We both have carried the burdens of managing hundreds of people. We wonder whether Mr. Ross can manage his own problems, much less 200 city employees.

As they say, where you go is where you came from.

I hope our commissioners confront this problem with deep and, if they are so inclined, prayerful thinking. I hope partisanship doesn’t enter into their thoughts. In their conclusions lie the future of Fernandina Beach over the next year or two.

But truth never stops coming out, no matter how slowly. By the next election, we will have a much better idea whether they have chosen wisely or foolishly next week.