DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A judge denied a request by Delray Beach's embattled city manager to delay his termination hearing later this week.
Circuit Court Judge John Kastrenakes said Tuesday he will not halt a termination hearing set for this Friday for suspended Delray Beach City Manager George Gretsas.
"It's not in the public's interest to get involved in a duly constituted city hearing that is lawful and is proceeding pursuant to the city charter," the judge said Tuesday.
"We are very pleased with today's ruling, which was very insightful and fair," city attorney Lynn Gelin said.
Gretsas sued the city last week claiming it failed to turn over roughly 7,000 pages of public records that he says are central to his defense.
Commissioners voted to remove Gretsas in June, with cause, after an outside investigation concluded he violated city policy for bullying and retaliation. He’s also accused of numerous instances of misconduct.
In the past, Gretsas has claimed attempts to terminate his employment and smear him are retaliation for exposing corrupt activities in the city.
"I don't think that the city and its commissioners can play a game of hide and seek in terms of the production of the records Mr. Gretsas sought continuously over the last three to four months," Gretsas' attorney Thomas Ali told the court.
An attorney representing the city told the judge that the city complied with Gretsas' public records requests.
"We have 64 public records requests that this city has diligently attempted to respond to and you can see by the information we've given you that there's been communications back and forth with Mr. Gretsas and with his attorneys," attorney Joanne O'Connor said.
Contact 5 has learned that Gretsas has asked the city once again to postpone the hearing. If that doesn't happen, he will face commissioners Friday at 10 a.m.
