City Manager Doug Drymon is taking a new job, while Bill Brewton is retiring after 30 years.
By CHASE SQUIRES
Published June 25, 2003
DADE CITY - City commissioners bid farewell Tuesday to two key members of the administrative staff: a city manager who has served five years and the city attorney who capped more than 30 years of public service.
City Manager Doug Drymon, 46, plans to start a new job next month as manager of Lake Park, a Palm Beach County town. And Bill Brewton, 68, is retiring from city service after a career that included more than five years as a municipal judge, six years as city commissioner, two years as mayor and 17 years as city attorney.
Brewton said he is keeping his Dade City law practice open.
Both Brewton and Drymon attended their final City Commission meeting Tuesday.
"I've enjoyed working with each and every one of you," Brewton said, reflecting on his lengthy tenure, including early years with Commissioner Lowell Harris. "I can remember when Lowell had red hair."
"You've got a good memory," the white-haired Harris replied.
Commissioners presented Drymon with a proclamation honoring his work.
"I thank each member of the commission and the community for allowing me to serve," Drymon said. "I'm deeply touched."
In other business Tuesday, Mayor Scott Black announced his intention to revive the dormant Community Alliance forum for discussing race relations in east Pasco, in light of the recent unrest in Lacoochee and the shooting death of Pasco County sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison.
The city created the panel with the Greater Dade City Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s to study relations between white, black and Hispanic people living in areas of Zephyrhills, Dade City, Lacoochee and the unincorporated county.
Black said the panel worked so well, and tensions eased to the point where the Community Alliance group dismantled in the mid 1990s.
In light of unease in Lacoochee over Harrison's death and the May death of 23-year-old Michael Anthony Reed as he was being chased by a sheriff's deputy, Black said the time is right to bring back a forum where civic leaders of all races can discuss issues.
In its first incarnation, Harris and City Commissioner Eunice Penix both served on the panel, along with many others.
Black's suggestion was met with positive comments at Tuesday's meeting.
Black said he didn't have a timetable for re-establishing the panel but said he is working to get it on track this summer.
