FORT PIERCE — Some city commissioners are questioning why city manager David Recor didn’t include a job he held in Alaska on his resume and city application when he applied for deputy city manager in Fort Pierce.

But Recor said issues surrounding his Alaska job are misunderstandings.

Recor worked as a planning and land-use director for Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK, from March 12, 2003, to April 14, 2003, according to Borough’s Human Resources Manager Rob McFerron. Recor was hired as Fort Pierce deputy city manager in April 2005 by former city manager Dennis Beach. Recor was then promoted to city manager in October when Beach retired.

Three days before Recor resigned from his job in Alaska, the Palmer Police Department arrested and charged him with shoplifting. The charges were later dropped and the case was dismissed, court records show.

Police said Recor pocketed four cosmetic items worth $3.49 each, a highlighter pen worth $2.99 and two greeting cards worth $1.99 each and walked out of a store without paying for them, according to the police report.

McFerron said Recor told his supervisor about his arrest and cited that as the reason why he was resigning.

Recor said Thursday he did not include his Alaska job on his resume because he considered it a “personal adventure as opposed to professional work experience.”

“I never intended to relocate my family, and I was only there for about four weeks while I continued to do consulting work for the law firm in South Carolina,” he said.

According to Recor’s job application, he worked for the Law Office of Chester C. Williams in Hilton Head, S.C., as the director of government and community affairs from January 2003 to June 2003.

“My decision to return to South Carolina and the incident that occurred in Alaska are not related,” Recor said.

He said he had discussed what happened in Alaska during his job interview with Beach “knowing full well that the city of Fort Pierce would do a complete background investigation. I did not have anything to hide.

“It has never been an issue,” he said, “and it should not be now.”

City commissioners said they weren’t concerned with Recor’s shoplifting arrest, because the charges were dropped, as much as they were about him not including his job in Alaska on his resume.

“I was shocked,” City Commissioner Reggie Sessions said about hearing Recor hadn’t included his Alaska stint on his resume. “I don’t like the idea of him failing to disclose the period of time that he was working there. That is something I don’t like more so than the (arrest). That concerns me.”

City Commissioner Rufus Alexander said he’s known employees in the workforce who have lost their jobs for not including full employment history on their resumes.

“I would think that the resume would include everything,” Alexander said.

Gena Spivey, an employee in the city’s Human Resources Department, said there have not been any incidents in which a city employee was fired for failing to disclose employment history on a resume or application.

“Also on the employment application it is noted that falsification or omission of any information or furnishing misleading information may result in rejection of application or dismissal, if hired,” Spivey said.

On the city’s application Recor filled out, it said all employment information must be completed on the application and the resume for at least the last 10 years. Additionally, the city’s personnel rules and regulations says falsifying employment application is grounds for termination.

Reached by phone while on vacation, City Commissioner Christine Coke, said this was the first she heard of the Alaska issue and wanted to sit down with Recor and talk to him about it before she rushed to judgment.

“The City Commission was not involved in his hiring process, and I don’t think we had the opportunity to look over his application,” Coke said. “I’m not ready to hang the guy out in the wind. He was there less than a month, so I think it’s not really part of your true employment history.”

Mayor Bob Benton said he spoke with Recor this week about the incident and didn’t have an issue with it.

“If he was up front with Mr. Beach, that’s good enough for me,” Benton said. “He wasn’t hired by the City Commission. He was hired by Mr. Beach. My issues are more with the budget and the running of the city and not with somebody’s past record. I’m more concerned with the way he runs the city.”

Recor noted he was almost entering into his fifth year working for the city and, “although the incident is personally embarrassing, to say the least, it is ironic that this information comes to light only after a decision to layoff eight police officers.”

Recor said management at the police department is looking into the matter to determine if any employees used the police department’s system to obtain information about Recor’s arrest or background in Alaska.

Police Chief Sean Baldwin said he could not confirm or comment on an ongoing investigation.
Alexi Howk, TCPalm.com

Tags: alaska, application, arrest, city manager, commissioners, employment, fire, government, history, layoffs, resigned, shoplift

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