RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Riviera Beach City Council Member Bruce Guyton threatened City Manager Jonathan Evans to “deal” with the city’s Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman or face consequences, according to a Notice of Claim letter WPTV obtained.
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The letter sent to Riviera Beach in January, but not previously publicly reported until now, creates new questions about council member Guyton’s motivation behind pushing for Evan’s removal after the city council voted not to renew Evan’s contract on Monday night. It also reveals the city’s top financial official asked for $500,000 to not sue the city after he felt other city officials retaliated against him for trying to stop questionable hiring practices and travel expenses, which he claims were a small part of the numerous instances he saw city officials improperly spent money over his 13 years at the city.
“It would be beyond the scope of this letter to describe each instance in which Mr. Sherman has seen City Officials abuse the public’s trust and use City funds for improper purposes,” wrote Randy Sherman’s attorney, Bernard Lebedker. “Generally speaking, the City has a well-deserved reputation for being corrupt, a history which stretches back for decades. However, this letter will confine itself to the most immediate issues.”
Neither Riviera Beach, Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman, City Manager Jonathan Evans, nor Council member Bruce Guyton responded to WPTV’s questions about the letter by publication.
A DISPUTE STARTS BETWEEN FINANCE AND HR
Before council member Bruce Guyton got involved, the letter from Sherman’s attorney said his client's work to ensure tax dollars were spent on the citizens of Riviera Beach, rather than a particular employee, created tension between the city’s finance and Human Resources departments.
Attorney Bernard Lebedker, on behalf of the Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman, a white man, accused then Human Resources Director Tenille DeCoste, a black woman, of not following the city’s established hiring practice when making hire, helping a friend get a job without advertising the position, wrongly promoting an employee who hired DeCoste’s husband and falsely stating another applicants experience to earn positions within the city. He said these behaviors were reported to the City Manager, which led the former Human Resources Director to engage in retaliatory behavior.
“Since then, Mrs. DeCoste has engaged in retaliatory behavior and has made overtly racially and ageist statements in Mr. Sherman’s presence,” Lebedker wrote. “Mrs. DeCoste has stated to City officials that Mr. Sherman mistreats black women and has bombarded Mr. Sherman with hostile e-mails and memoranda. This behavior was and is unwelcome, pervasive, and severe.”
Sandy Collier, who is a publicist for DeCoste, said her client strongly disputes these allegations and categorically denies any claim that she misused public funds, manipulated hiring processes, or engaged in any campaign of harassment or retaliation. She also said her client, DeCoste, documented and raised concerns about the city’s Chief Financial Officer.
“Ms. DeCoste categorically denies orchestrating or participating in any campaign of harassment or retaliation against Mr. Sherman,” Collier wrote in an email. "Ms. DeCoste also notes that prior to these allegations, she had documented and raised concerns regarding Mr. Sherman’s conduct and actions that she believed could expose the city to potential legal and compliance risks. Those concerns were communicated to city leadership.”
COUNCIL MEMBER GUYTON ENTERS DISPUTE
According to Sherman’s demand letter, DeCoste then enlisted other city employees and officials to carry out a “campaign of harassment and retaliation” against the city’s top financial official. In one instance, Bruce Guyton, a black male, told Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman he was a racist and a sexist who mistreated black female employees at a June 11 meeting. Sherman’s attorney claims the dispute happened after a late travel request made the council member’s office couldn’t be accommodated based on city policy.
“In essence, Mr. Guyton’s approach was that if there was a policy violation, it did not matter because Mr. Guyton was the one who violated the policy and it did not apply to him anyway,” Lebedker said. “…Mr. Guyton then asserted that Mr. Sherman was a racist and a sexist who mistreated black females employed by the City. Mr. Guyton claimed that Mr. Evans was aware of Mr. Sherman’s behavior and refused to investigate. Mr. Guyton then explained that if Mr. Evans did not “deal” with Mr. Sherman, then he (Mr. Guyton) would deal with Mr. Evans.”
According to the letter, Sherman was then suspended by Riviera Beach Mayor Douglas Lawson, not Evans, for three days for cause. It also alleges employees were advised to keep the matter “confidential” and disciplined an employee for speaking out against the suspension at another city council meeting in the summer of 2025.
GUYTON ACTS TO REMOVE CITY MANAGER
About six months later, council member Bruce Guyton led the charge to remove Jonathan Evans as city manager at a city council meeting in March. Evans, who has led the city since March 2019, according to his biography on the city’s website, oversaw the city during several periods of hardship just within the last three years.
This includes findings that the city manager is neglecting to investigate Human Resources complaints, delays in construction of a new water treatment plant, a report from the Palm Beach County Inspector General’s Office that found the city improperly bid a $10 Million fire station, five candidates being removed from the ballot after a city consultant gave candidates incorrect information and the city receiving documents from the FBI. But Guyton said he made the decision to remove Evans because of how Evans treated the city’s Chief Financial Officer, Randy Sherman.
“Under Mr. Evans watch behind the scenes, the city is out of control in my opinion,” Guyton said in prepared remarks in March 2026. “Departments have gotten into shouting matches in front of Mr. Evans nothing was done. The common denominator of many of those out-of-control interchanges, Randy Sherman. Randy Sherman has been able to do whatever he wants to do, how he wants to do it with no discipline.”
Guyton also said he made the decision because of fines worth more than $1 Million the city received from the Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County after breaking water quality rules and fabricating water quality tests, but he continued to talk about the role Randy Sherman plays in city business.
Riviera Beach
Riviera Beach fined $1.2 million for breaking water quality rules
“There’s no other organization where they can get fined a million dollars and the CEO is not held responsible,” Guyton said in March. “Nowhere else but Riviera Beach. The way this city is run is going to run us in the ground. Mr Evans has a lock, him and Randy, on employees. They cannot talk to us.”
MOVING FORWARD
Randy Sherman still works as the city’s Chief Financial Officer. His attorney said Sherman has lost six days of sleep, suffered sleepless nights and has been undergoing counseling while “ongoing harassment and discrimination” continues at his job. They’re asking the city to preserve communication for a potential lawsuit.
Jonathan Evans last day would be in the middle of July when his contract expires.
DeCoste told WPTV’s Ethan Stein that she was asked to resign after being put on administrative leave after the city's receipt of Sherman’s allegations. Her publicist, Sandy Collier, told WPTV there were differing accounts regarding the circumstances, but DeCoste remains proud of the work she accomplished during her tenure and the impact she made within the organization and the broader community.
