Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis fired off a letter to Broward’s inspector general Tuesday, criticizing her for investigating a tip that the former City Manager Greg Chavarria wasn’t living in town as required by the city charter.
“I frankly am dismayed at the findings, not because I believe that Mr. Chavarria intentionally committed any wrongdoing, but that your office would engage in such a pointless and whimsical undertaking, far exceeding your scope of authority and purpose for which your office was created,” Trantalis wrote.
The Inspector General’s office says it used SunPass records to show Chavarria did not live in Fort Lauderdale until 14 months after he took over as city manager — a claim his attorney says is not true.
“It’s indeed suspicious that your office would use government funds to undertake compiling such a travel dossier on Mr. Chavarria,” the mayor’s letter says. “Where is the gross mismanagement? What misconduct was perpetrated that interfered with the work that he did in his performance as city manager?”
Inspector General Carol J. Breece could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Trantalis asked the Inspector General a pointed question: “Who set you up to this?”
In the letter, Trantalis questioned whether local lobbyist Judy Stern was the complainant, saying she had been “gunning to get Chavarria fired, mainly because he refused to eat from the palm of her hand.”
Stern told the South Florida Sun Sentinel she has “no comment for now,” but said she was “taken aback that the mayor does not read the city charter.”
Chavarria resigned from his $291,000-a-year job on June 1, citing personal reasons.
The Inspector General’s report was released on May 30, two days before Chavarria’s official exit.
In his letter, the mayor says Chavarria and his wife decided to move into a condominium at East Point Towers because it was more affordable and close to the schools his children could attend.
“For some odd reason, you don’t believe the family ever lived there,” the letter says. “If you would have taken the time to inquire with school officials, you would have been informed that his daughters did matriculate at Sunrise Middle School and Bennett Elementary, both just down the street from East Point Towers.”
But the move did not work out and Chavarria’s wife opted to move back to Miami-Dade County, Trantalis says in the letter.
“At this point, Mr. Chavarria had two choices: quit his job or leave his family,” Trantalis wrote. “His family did move back to Miami-Dade, but Mr. Chavarria did not want to abandon his role and the promises he made to the city to accept the role of city manager. What Mr. Chavarria did instead was to maintain a primary residential presence in Fort Lauderdale and still accommodate the needs of his family.”
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan