ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — Following the resignations of two of St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch's executive team members, he addressed accusations made of a "hostile" workplace, saying the "buck stops" with him.
Moving forward, Welch says he will not have a deputy mayor for the remainder of his administration.
Welch said he was "disappointed" in the nature of the resignations and the allegations made by former Communications Director Janelle Taylor about now-former Deputy Mayor Stephanie Owens.
Welch noted that in the eight months Taylor had been working with the mayor's office, she hadn't filed any complaint against Owens — meaning the first he heard of the allegations was in Taylor's resignation letter, he said.
The mayor also said he doesn't believe "that there is a pervasive hostile work environment in our city." But added he needs to base his decisions on "facts and data, not solely on [his] beliefs."
He said he is working on getting feedback from his office's employees on the current workplace environment so they feel "empowered" to report any "inappropriate behavior."
"It's important to respect Ms. Taylor's allegation, even without any official complaint," Welch said. "However, it's also important to respect the statement of former Deputy Mayor Owens, who refutes those allegations."
On Sept. 2, Owens officially resigned after being placed on administrative leave by Welch. Her resignation will be effective on Sept. 9.
This came after Taylor, a spokeswoman she supervised, resigned on Sept. 1, citing a "hostile work environment." Taylor "made serious allegations against her supervisor, Deputy Mayor Owens," the city wrote in a previous email.
After Taylor's resignation, Welch contacted human resources to begin a thorough review of Owens. This will no longer be necessary in light of her resignation, the mayor's office said.
Welch explained Owens' role was primarily in policy development, and only directly supervised nine out of more than 3,600 staff members. Following Owens' resignation weighed against the scope of her role, Welch said he decided he won't be seeking a new deputy mayor during the remainder of his administration.
Rather, the majority of the deputy mayor's role will be taken over by a chief of staff.
In a statement provided to 10 Tampa Bay, Taylor said in response to Welch's statements the following:
“I stand by my letter of resignation and subsequent comments on my departure from my position as communications director. At this point, it is important that I focus on my next career steps, which I will be announcing in the coming days, and move on from the unfortunate circumstances that prompted my resignation. I encourage existing City staff to heed Mayor Welch’s stated goal of providing safe avenues for which to report grievances and hope those channels will provide employees the means to ensure a healthy workplace atmosphere.”
10 Tampa Bay live-streamed the news conference, which you can watch in full below or by clicking here.