NOT HIS FIRST RODEO: Editorial: End of tenure for City Manager David Recor good for the people of Fort Pierce

With a growing lack of trust by Fort Pierce commissioners, Recor's decision to resign gives city fresh start

David Recor made a name for himself in Fort Pierce. Unfortunately, it's not as good as it might have been.

Recor's resignation Wednesday after seven tumultuous years at City Hall — to potentially accept a job as city manager in Ocean City, Md. — was the best decision he could have made for himself and the city.

Hired as assistant city manager under Dennis Beach in 2005, Recor became city manager in 2008 despite questions at the time about Recor's management style, his truthfulness and his relationship with the City Hall staff, commissioners and the public.

Those concerns continued over the next several years and came to a head last fall when Recor survived a no-confidence vote, 3-2. The proverbial last straw came, however, as commissioners recently learned Recor remained a candidate for the Maryland job despite assurances that he was going to be more transparent and he had no intention of leaving Fort Pierce.

As recently as the City Commission meeting Monday night, Recor gave the impression he had no plans to leave. But, as he had been doing over the past several weeks in particular, he had been less than forthright about his intentions, though he claimed he had kept commissioners informed.

More