Employee Morale Plunges at Orange Park Town Hall

Workers Blame Interim Manager Whitson

Interim Town Manager William Whitson joins Orange Park police for a recent “Coffee with a Cop” outreach event.

Job satisfaction among workers at Orange Park Town Hall is in a freefall, according to a recent survey.

The Town of Orange Park conducted its biannual Employee Satisfaction Survey in July 2024 and January 2025. The anonymous survey was designed for employees to rate their job satisfaction from 0 to 100.

The criteria included workplace leadership, culture, compensation and challenges. The results of the January survey began with brightly colored charts, graphs, bars and curlicues and looked especially pretty, but when it got down to the black and white ratings and comments, pretty turned ugly…fast.

The scorer’s final analysis of the survey showed a lot of creative compassion however if the scores had been in the world of academia the Town of Orange Park would have received a big fat red F.

The collective positives across all departments were co-workers, while mutual negatives were pay, top level leadership, insurance premiums, morale and trust.

The first rating was townwide. Out of a possible 100, the town went from 17 last July to 13 in January. The analysis of the score was that the town’s rating had “declined slightly” from last year.

Unionization didn’t seem to have much of a positive effect on departments with collective bargaining contracts:

• The branch with the highest rating was the Police which “maintained a moderate level of satisfaction” as they stepped up from 27 to 31. Negatives were “stagnant wages and pension dissatisfaction.”

• Public Works was listed as having a “slight decline” as scores went from 37 to 31 with complaints of “micromanagement in top level leadership and pay.”

• The Fire Department “showed modest improvement” with scores rising from -70 to -37. There were “few mention of positive aspects” as issues sited were “severe manpower shortages, unsafe working conditions and non-competitive compensation.”

For those who actually read the survey the biggest surprise, and not in a good way, were departmental scores from the Town Hall, which plummeted from 75 last year to -11 in January. The assessor said this drop was a result of “growing dissatisfaction stemming from leadership changes, perceived disconnects and morale challenges.”

Clay News & View spoke with several town hall employees. They felt less like their dissatisfaction was growing and more like they were all on a bus with their hair on fire while careening off a high cliff…and the one driving the bus was the new Interim Town Manager William Whitson.

The council will be discussing the interim position at its meeting tomorrow, according to the agenda.

Employees said Whitson apparently has a job outside of his managerial duties at the town, which entails “some kind of consulting.” They believed his outside job appears to leave little time to manage town business and said he keeps his door shut and strongly discourages interruptions of any kind. Town hall staff told CN&V that Whitson warned employees that discussing any town issue with council members was “illegal.”

“I think that was his way to keep us quiet and protect himself,” one employee said.

One survey commenter mentioned a “challenging work environment” under Whitson. “There’s a perception that decisions are made to appease Town Council rather than based on sound, objective analysis. Leadership’s management style seems outdated and dismissive of modern workplace reality,” that employee said.

“The town is starting to take us backwards with the hiring of the interim town manager.” wrote another. “For the first time since starting with the town, I am looking for other employment.”

Two town hall personnel told of instances when Whitson appeared to have little knowledge of the business of the town, while others told of his condescending and dismissive behavior and wondered how he secured the job of interim manager.

The answer has to do with former manager Sarah Campbell. When Campbell left the town for a position in Fernandina Beach, she gave the town council the names of several people who were in transition and could begin work promptly. The interim salary was approximately $147,000. Last October the council interviewed Oakland, Florida, interim Town Manager Jack Butler and Whitson. Both men expressed a desire to move from interim to permanent manager.

Whitson, with his gray bowl cut parted down the middle appeared friendly and jovial as he shook hands with council members then sat and listed his credentials in city management. He pledged to the council that he “gets things done,” has a “servant leadership approach,” and would “help my staff perform. ” Despite town hall employees’ contradictory report, he assured the council he has “an open-door policy.”

Three council members seemed to prefer Whitson, but councilor Vogel had reservations. Seems in his Google searches, he learned Whitson’s had some issues during his less than two-year tenure as manager at Flagler Beach. Councilor Doug Benefield was concerned also about the goings-on at Flagler, holes in his resume and the fact that Whitson seemed to change employment a lot.

Both councilors seems reluctant to go into detail about the problems at Flagler, as did Whitson. It wasn’t clear if the three other council members knew the extent of the problems Whitson had in Flagler, or if they were just exercising good southern manners, as he excused the Flagler concerns by blaming COVID, the death of the former city manager, and political instability.

In a 3-2 vote, Benefield and Vogel voted for Butler, while Mayor Randy Anderson, Vice-Mayor Winnette Sandlin, and Councilman Glenn Taylor voted for Whitson. When a motion was made to hire Whitson, the motion passed 5-0.

The word “fired” was never used at the council meeting, but Whitson had been fired from Flagler after a big to-do that resembled a bad reality show.

Whitson was hired as city manager at Flagler Beach in February 2021. By July 2022, he was called inexperienced and unresponsive by some council members. Some of his mistakes were real doozies.

For example, he forgot to hire a fireworks company for the 4th of July, leaving the city’s celebration quiet, dark and big bangless.

This was followed by his neglect to apply for a $739,000 Tourist Development Council Grant. City projects were running far behind schedule, and an employee pay raise approved by the commission had not been awarded. He had other failures and business leaders criticized his “lack-luster efforts.”

Citizens started petitions for his removal, put up yard signs which read he had to go and some made comments about him on social media which hopefully were not read by children, the clergy or those easily offended. His staff at Flagler seem to share opinions with Orange Park town hall employees as media accounts said there was “increasing reports of a demoralized staff.”

The Flagler beach council threw him a lifeline as media headlines read: “No ‘Lynching’ for Embattled Flagler Beach Manager Whitson, But a 90-Day Probation Period.”

However, in February, he was terminated. “Flagler Beach Fires City Manager William Whitson after Withering Criticism.” The headline said.

A little more Googling, Binging, and Yahooing would have revealed Whitson had similar difficulties with his job performance dating back to 2008. He was invited to resign as city manager in Cairo, Georgia.

“(Whitson) ended up lacking experience in the key areas that we needed.” Cairo’s mayor noted euphemistically. Shortly after Whitson left, Emergency Services Chief Donald Towne, who was hired by Whitson at Cairo, was arrested for “theft of services.” The chief said Whitson allowed him to use the internet and phone service paid for by the city since he worked regularly at home. Whitson denied allowing Towne the services.

In 2009, he was hired as city manager for East Ridge, Tennessee, but according to newspaper accounts did not share information about his employment at Cairo with East Ridge. He was asked to resign at East Ridge when he did not submit “accurate information equally to (councilors) in a timely manner,” did not reveal a $657,000 budget deficit, and acted independently without the council’s knowledge or permission.

Only Mayor Randy Anderson and Councilor Glenn Taylor returned calls to CN&V to inquire about the survey and Whitson’s employment. Mayor Anderson said the survey “did not come to us” because employees “work for the town manager.” However, the mayor said he plans to get a copy of the survey and review it. He said he was aware only of Whitson difficulties at Flagler when he was hired.

Taylor said he was new and wasn’t aware of Whitson’s history or the survey.

Employees said they dreaded the idea of appointing Whitson to be permanent manager, one likening it to a random loss of a body part.