Goliath Davis speaks at a news conference after being fired fired from his job as senior administrator of community enrichment by Mayor Bill Foster.
Shane Souther
Neighborhood News Bureau
NNBnews.com
St. Petersburg – Goliath Davis, fired from his job as senior administrator of community enrichment by Mayor Bill Foster, reacted to his termination Friday afternoon.
Cars jammed the parking lot of the Enoch Davis Recreation Center to hear Davis’ side of the story. Davis was relieved of his duties due to “a loss of confidence,” according to a news release from Foster.
“I can tell you why I was told I was fired,” Davis said, who was informed March 2, his birthday, he was being fired from the job he held since 2001. “I was told I was fired for not going to a funeral.”
The former police chief, who served on the police force for 28 years, has been criticized for not attending the funerals of three police officers killed in the line of duty. He attended the funeral for Hydra Lacy Jr., who shot and killed Officer Jeffrey Yaslowitz and Sgt. Thomas J. Baitinger. Davis did attend the wake for the two officers.
Davis said those families reached across the aisle to each other, but not everyone has acknowledged that.
“For some reason, some in this community have chosen to follow the edicts and the rant and raves of radio talk personalities rather than sow seeds of healing,” Davis said. “They’re sowing seeds of contempt, they’re sowing seeds of division, and many are pointing to me as the individual who represents the polarization of St. Petersburg.”
The NAACP added this incident should not be viewed as a racial issue.
“We should not and will not allow this incident to further divide our city along racial lines,” said NAACP president the Rev. Manuel Sykes. “We respect Mayor Foster’s authority to make the decision, but at the same time we honor and respect the service and sacrifice that Dr. Davis has rendered to this city, often in the face of great opposition, and undeniably with outstanding results.”
Davis, who spearheaded the Midtown Economic Development Plan, repeated several times during the news conference that he was fired, and that he was not resigning from his position. Although he had plans to retire in December, after wrapping up the Manhattan Casino project, he said he kept those plans quiet out of fear of becoming a lame duck. Davis didn’t rule out the possibility of litigation against the city over his firing.
“It is clear that this is not a performance issue,” Sykes said.
Foster said he will not name a replacement for Davis. The department he supervised will be combined with other city departments, a plan that doesn’t sit well with Sykes, who expressed discontent over giving a black man a high ranking position only to take it from him.
“What happens now is the key,” Sykes said. “There’s a role that needs to be filled. There are issues that continue to disproportionately affect and impact the African-American community that this administration is not addressing.”
Penny Cole was one of about 250 people who packed the room to hear Davis speak, part of an audience whose applause and cheers punctuated his statements.
“It is sad when we have to sacrifice a person who has such significance,” Cole said
Foster said in a statement the city “will work together in unison, from a common script, toward a common goal of seamlessness and economic sustainability.”
Lassi Dennard attended the news conference and said, “I hope there will be dialogue from all parties involved. I feel that from the beginning they should have put talents and organization skills together and not draw lines. We need to dissolve the lines and work with people.”
Former mayoral candidate Deveron Gibbons threw his support behind Foster in the last election after losing in the primary.
“Goliath Davis was like a second father to me,” Gibbons said. “Mayor Foster firing Mr. Davis … I am questioning what I previously thought Mayor Foster was all about.”
Davis reminded everyone of a larger picture.
“The community needs to stay focused and keep the mission and vision within sight,” Davis said. “I don’t want my departure to stunt their growth as a community.”
Additional research and reporting by Lottie Watts, graduate assistant and editor for Neighborhood News Bureau.
