WEST PALM BEACH GOLF COMMISSION, APPELLANT,
v.
DONALD G. CALLAWAY AND CITY OF WEST PALM BEACH, APPELLEES
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The court affirmed that a city charter provision giving the city manager exclusive authority to hire and fire employees supersedes an ordinance granting the Golf Commission that power, rendering the ordinance invalid.
Where a city charter and ordinance conflict on the authority to hire and fire employees, the charter provision prevails and the ordinance is invalid.
[1] When a city charter and municipal ordinance conflict regarding the authority to hire and fire employees, the charter provision prevails and the conflicting ordinance is i…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Golf Commission hired Callaway as a golf pro in 1977 under an ordinance granting it exclusive hiring and firing power. In 1988, voters approved a …
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DIMITROULEAS, WILLIAM P., Associate Judge.
Appellant, West Palm Beach Golf Commission, timely appeals from the trial court’s granting of a partial summary judgment. We affirm.
In 1977, appellee Donald G. Calla-way was hired by the Golf Commission as a golf pro. Ordinance 21-90 expressly gives the Golf Commission the exclusive power to hire and fire its employees. However, in 1988, the voters of the City of West Palm Beach approved a new city charter. Section 3.03 of that charter gives the city manager the exclusive authority to hire and fire employees. After the 1988 charter revision, the Golf Commission continued to run the golf course and to pay Callaway. In September, 1990, the Golf Commission fired Callaway. Thereafter, Callaway filed a complaint seeking declaratory judgment as to his rights and remedies. In his complaint, Callaway alleged that the ordinances that empower the commission to hire and fire were invalid because they conflict with portions of the city charter that give that power to the city manager. The trial court agreed and granted a partial summary judgment. Where the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no occasion for resorting to the rules of statutory interpretation and construction; the statute must be given its plain and obvious meaning. Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217 (Fla.1984). The charter is not ambiguous, and where the ordinances empowering the Golf Commission to hire and fire employees are in conflict, they are invalid.
AFFIRMED.
WARNER and POLEN, JJ., concur.
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W. Palm Golf Comm'n v. Adams, 633 So. 2d 568 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…n directly vested in the City either by law or by the City Charter. A partial summary judgment on liability in favor of the former employee against the Golf Commission and the City was affirmed on appeal. West Palm Beach Golf Commission v. Callaway, 604 So. 2d 880 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993), review denied, 618 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1993). Plaintiff alleged that its exposure in that lawsuit for legal expenses and damages occurred as a result of defendants’ failure to properly advise plaintiff. Defendants filed a sworn mot…
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Krischer v. D'Amato, 674 So. 2d 909 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…the enforcement of the penal, traffic, or highway laws of this state, § 111.065(1), Fla.Stat. (1993). When the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it must be given its plain and obvious meaning. West Palm Beach Golf Comm’n v. Callaway, 604 So. 2d 880 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992), rev. denied, 618 So. 2d 212 (Fla.1993); Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217 (Fla.1984). Here, the statute includes in its definition of law enforcement officer any person employed full time by the state “whose primary responsibility i…
Authorities Cited
- Eugene Holly, M.D. v. Albert W. Auld, M.D., 450 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 1984)