The City of Fort Pierce will hold a City Commission Special Meeting this Thursday 3/19/2026 at 9am at City Hall.
The meeting is an attempt to negotiate an impasse between the City of Fort Pierce and the Teamsters Local Union #769 (General Employee Unit) specific to pay raises requested for Union employees. As the meeting is being held during work hours, many of those who are Union members will not be able to attend to voice their concerns.
The Teamsters Local Union #769 was founded May 21, 1964, in Miami. They represent employees from Orlando to Key West in a variety of industries, including but not limited to airlines, bakery & laundry, car rental, construction, dairy, freight, law enforcement, medical, motion pictures, and public sectors.
Locally in Fort Pierce, the Union represents various City employees including sanitation workers, heavy-equipment operators, and park attendants, many of whom are employed by the Public Works Department. In addition, Union members also include Crime Scene Investigations within the Police Department, Code Enforcement, the Billing Department, and those employed by the Police Department who are not sworn deputies.
In the past, raises at the City of Fort Pierce used a formula that ensured that lower-paid workers could receive a meaningful raise.
The current proposal before the Commission is 5% of someone’s salary or $1.20 per hour, whichever is greater.
However, the Union is seeking a 5% raise or $1.60 per hour, whichever is greater, retroactive to October 1, 2025
Past offers for increases included 5% of someone’s salary or $1.22 per hour, whichever was greater. That was later adjusted to 5% of someone’s salary or $1.50 per hour, whichever was greater.
For comparison, all non-union (non-bargaining) employees at the City of Fort Pierce received a 5% increase. However, the Police Department received an average 6% increase after receiving a 9% pay raise in late 2024.
The priorities of the City
The City reported in their 2024 annual report that there were 383 people employed. For 2025, the projected number of employees is 475 people.
According to US News, the median household income in Fort Pierce is $50,583, compared with the national median household income of $79,466. Generally speaking, Fort Pierce municipal wages are lower than the average Treasure Coast (St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River Counties) municipal rates.
Let’s compare two departments, Public Works and the Police Department.
Public Works
The Public Works Department employs more than 100 people in total.
The City’s Public Works Department is responsible for maintaining and improving the city’s infrastructure, providing essential services, and ensuring safe, clean, and functional public spaces. This includes:
- Administration & Customer Service
- Facilities Maintenance
- Fleet Maintenance
- Parks & Grounds
- Streets & Drainage
- Solid Waste
The Public Works Department makes up approximately 25% of the staff, their projected expenses account for considerably less than 25% of the City’s budget.
For the Public Works Department, the majority of those employed make under $27 an hour. Many of those individuals are reported to make $17 to $24 per hour.
The Police
Police personnel constitute approximately 37% of the total employees with 175 with an additional 16 in the Grants department. However, the Police budget constitutes just over 53% of the overall amount to be spent by the City.
The Police have protections including one provided by the Florida Legislature – Florida Statute 166.241 – which mandates that municipalities adopt annual budgets, with specific protections for police funding. One key provision allows for an appeal by a law enforcement agency to the state Division of Administrative Hearings if a municipality reduces a municipal law enforcement agency’s operating budget by more than 5%, stating the goal is to ensure public safety and prevent cuts to officer staffing or equipment.
The City of Fort Pierce included in their budget open spots for 20 vacancies. The argument is if they relinquish the spots, they could permanently lose the funding.
As mentioned previously, the Police Union and City of Fort Pierce negotiated a 9% pay increase in September 2024. The Union initially requested 15% stating the raises were needed to keep up with other agencies.
In 2025, the City negotiated a revised agreement agreeing to increasing officer pay through a multi-year pay increase, commonly known as a “step” program to help retain employees.
One Commissioner at the time of the police negotiations was James Taylor, who was arrested on September 5, 2025, on 24 felony accounts related to a multistate investigation of child exploitation.
Then-Commissioner Taylor along with Commissioner Michael Broderick publicly criticized the leadership of Fort Pierce Police Chief Diane Hobley-Burney, calling for a “change in direction.” Ms. Hobley-Burney resigned in May of 2025. Yet, at a later meeting, former Commissioner Taylor questioned why so much needed to be spent on departments like IT. Interestingly, Mr. Taylor’s sister was the public affairs manager for the Fort Pierce Police Department. It does not appear that he disclosed this potential conflict of interest when discussing or voting on the agreement with the Police in 2025.
So where could the money come from?
On February 13, 2026, it was announced that the popular restaurant, Crabby’s Dockside, was closing seemingly abruptly. The restaurant leased the property from the City of Fort Pierce. It was later disclosed that restaurant owed $215,000 in back rent and property taxes.
As reported by Sunland News, in September 2025, Crabby’s reached out to the City of Fort Pierce for assistance, There was a meeting on November 19 with Crabby’s being required to submit a business plan. What was provided on December 29 was a request from Crabby’s asking for 18 months of free rent but with no financial details or support.
City Manager Richard Chess was made aware of the situation and on January 30, he sent a letter advising as to the default of the agreement. On February 12, Crabby’s told the city they were moving out by February 15.
Regarding the property taxes that were owed, the City did not bill Crabby’s in a timely manner. This was being addressed separately by Mr. Chess with City Staff.
In order to address this and other possible oversights of rents not being collected, City Manager Richard Chess had included the position of Property Manager in the budget.
At the February 17, 2026, City Commission meeting, Mr. Chess stated “I did put a Property Manager position in the budget. It was taken out. You all know that. I had that in there to get that position to centralize the process. I’m still looking to bring on a Deputy Manager to help me with that process. We’re not happy about this and this is not how we conduct business.”
He went on to say that he and his staff were working on addressing the situation, so the lack of oversight did not continue.
Crabby’s moved out without paying the $215,000 it owed. But the overall impact to the City is potentially greater as the lease was scheduled through 2040, resulting in a loss of $3.1 million in projected revenue assuming there is no tenant in place.
That money could be used to fund the raises for the positions being discussed Thursday as well as others.
So what’s next?
The City meeting Thursday at 9am with the intent to resolve the pending negotiations.
- Should this Special Committee Meeting be at time that accommodate those whom they serve? A meeting at 9am excludes all of the employees who deserve to have their voices heard as the votes cast on Thursday impact them directly.
- Should the City hire someone exclusively like a Property Manager to monitor rental properties to allow for revenue to be better collected? This would allow for better financial support to invest in the staff needed to run the City.
- Could the addition of someone like a Property Manager be the remedy that allows for the funding to negotiate with all employees, regardless if they are with a Union or not?
- Are some departments being afforded more generous negotiations than others? Are all negotiations being approached with the same intent to bring everyone up to a better living wage?
The meeting Thursday 3/19 at 9am at City Hall located at 100 North US 1 in Fort Pierce.
Public comment will be permitted and, as usual, will be limited to three (3) minutes per person.
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