Orange City Mayor Tries, Fails to Initiate Firing of City Clerk

Orange City Mayor Kelli Marks was unsuccessful in an effort to have City Clerk Kaley Burleson fired in a special meeting last week. Marks called the meeting on Friday to try and have the City Council fire Burleson for what she called “harassment and constant attacks and allegations”. The City Council ultimately voted 5-2 not to fire Burleson. The two dissenting votes were Kelli Marks and Dawn Tiamson. It was Tiamson who formally made the motion for Burleson’s firing, having received a second by Vice Mayor Harold Grimm merely so the matter could be discussed. Members of the public who attended were largely critical of Marks’ efforts. After marking her opening statement explaining her rationale, Marks received laughter from the gallery, prompting her to call for order. According to Tiamson, Burleson’s firing was necessary due to “lack of confidence and trust”, “no reasonable prospect of reconciliation”, “inappropriate behavior toward the Council and attempting to undermine the Council, pushback and/or difficulty when presented when direction given making rules/policies, not following direction given from Council, demonstrated insubordinate behavior, and disseminating private text messages which have created public chaos, rumor, and defamation which is not a desirable characteristic of a position of a public official”. Furthermore, Mayor Marks accused Burleson of costing the city $3 million by not responding to a meeting request email from state Senator Tom Wright. The email was in regards to potential funding for public safety infrastructure. Burleson took to the podium and demanded proof of the allegations levied against her. She disputed characterizations that she would’ve had access to some of the information she was accused of improperly releasing. As for the meeting with Wright, Burleson said she was on vacation and that an automated email response sent back an avenue to get in immediate contact. After that, she made counter-accusations of inappropriate behavior by Marks. “You came in my office after legislative action days and told me how you took your intern to Tallahassee and how you dressed her up because she had big boobs and had her show off her cleavage to Tom Wright because he likes that kind of stuff,” Burleson said. “I have two witnesses who were in my office when you said it.” Burleson further said that Marks’ special meeting was retaliatory, and that she’d purposefully picked a day when she herself was ill and when her mother was in recovery from surgery. This, Burleson speculated, was done so that she might not attend to defend herself. The audience applauded this accusation. Laurie Scotten, who ran against Marks in the most recent mayoral election, called her former opponent ‘vindictive’, a ‘bully’, and ‘power-tripping’. But it was Marks’ own predecessor, former Mayor Gary Blair, who provided the most pointed words. “I am totally disgusted by what I am seeing happening right now,” Blair said. “You’re tearing this city down, Ms. Marks. It’s exploding. This city, you’re burning it down. Literally.” He went on to accuse her of causing the city to lose important senior staff members. “My mother used to use a term, and I will use it on you tonight,” Blair continued. “That you are rotten to the core. And what these people have said, for you to resign…you better go home and look in the mirror and really think about it.”