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⚖️ A 4-3 vote kept Mike Minich as chair of the Charter Review Committee despite physical confrontation allegations.
💥 Testimonies detailed a heated exchange between Minich and former Councilman Travis Smith after a public meeting.
🏛️ Councilmembers clashed over accountability, transparency, and how the decision could impact city staff morale.
FORT WALTON BEACH — In a tense hearing on July 8, the Fort Walton Beach City Council voted 4-3 against removing Mike Minich as the chairman of the city’s Charter Review Committee following allegations that he physically confronted former Councilman Travis Smith after a contentious public meeting.
The motion to remove Minich, introduced by Councilman David Schmidt and seconded by Councilwoman Gloria DeBerry, failed, with Councilmembers Payne Walker, Schmidt, and DeBerry voting in favor.
Councilmembers Ben Merrill, Debi Riley, Bryce Jeter, and Logan Browning voted against the motion.
The hearing stemmed from a Charter Review Committee meeting in June, at which Smith attended as a member of the public. Smith testified that after the meeting concluded without allowing public comment, he confronted Minich over the decision.
“As we’re walking out, I looked over… and I said, ‘I can’t believe you guys are too chicken shit to hear what I got to say,'” Smith told the council. “The second that I got out, [Minich] threw his forearm into me, and then he kept pushing and looked at me and said, ‘Don’t call me chicken shit.'”
Smith emphasized that his concern was not over hurt feelings but about the principle of accountability.
“There’s rules that you gotta abide by,” he said. “One of those is you don’t lay your hands on another human being. So the way I look at it is, he did. He violated that, and there’s gotta be accountability.”
Walker pressed Smith on whether such behavior would be tolerated in any professional setting, such as Smith’s business.
“Zero tolerance,” Smith replied. “I would imagine it’s probably in the city’s handbook.”
In his testimony, Minich did not deny that a confrontation occurred, but stated that his legal counsel advised him not to answer questions about it. “I’m not going to admit to doing anything that I could be charged for,” he said.
Minich, however, provided a narrative leading up to the incident, defending his handling of the Charter Review Committee meetings. He stated that he was operating under guidance from the city clerk and attorney, who indicated that public input would only be accepted at one publicly noticed meeting.
During the second meeting, Smith texted him mid-debate to criticize the lack of public comment. “I just shook my head up,” Minich said, describing his reaction during the meeting.
Afterward, Minich said he approached Smith with the resolution document in hand to explain.
“He looked down at me and said, ‘Well, you’re the chairman. You can do anything you want to.’ And I said, ‘Oh, okay.’ And he said, ‘You’re just a chicken shit,’ and that’s exactly the way it said.”
The exchange escalated outside City Hall. Minich said Smith had followed him out, called him names, and referenced a past incident in which Smith called him a liar during a council meeting.
“He said, ‘Yeah, and I apologize for that,'” Minich recounted. “I said, ‘You call me a liar or a chicken shit in that room there.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that.'”
Councilwoman Riley expressed disappointment over the hearing itself.
“I just look at the two of you… very respected former councilmen for the city of Fort Walton Beach. I just would have thought, out of mere respect, that we just keep our emotions under control,” she said.
Jeter, who also opposed the motion, was more blunt.
“It’s personally childish and immature that we’re even here,” he said. “If someone lays hands on you, you file the police report.”
But Schmidt and Walker stood firm. Schmidt said the lack of transparency from Minich, particularly regarding conversations held inside City Hall, damaged his trust. Walker said the outcome of the vote would send a message to city staff.
“If Mr. Minich is not removed, that’s what we’ll be accomplishing—showing all of the staff that you can lay hands on them, and [you] will be treated differently than [others], and that’s very concerning to me.”
Councilman Merrill, while acknowledging the serious nature of the allegations, said the lack of a police report or clear evidence left him unconvinced.
“Without a police report, without all the facts, without witnesses, it’s a he said, he said,” Merrill said. “It’s not a good look for our city.”
In closing, Councilwoman DeBerry expressed her sadness over the conflict between two respected community members. “Honestly, I just hate to see something like this nature transpire,” she said. “It makes no sense that we would have to stop in the midst of this behind something that could have been… avoided.”
Following the failed motion, no further action was taken.
Pro Communi Bono
