- April 3, 2026
After a city audit found thousands of taxpayer dollars may have been misused, one Daytona Beach City Commissioner moved to fire the city manager for failing to in his duties as city manager.
“I can give you a list a mile long of why he should be terminated and his contract not renewed,” Commissioner Stacy Cantu said. “This is an embarrassment to our city what is going on.”
The vote came up at the end of a three-hour discussion of a city audit that showcased a misuse of taxpayer money, where purchases were made on city Purchasing Cards either without approval or without documentation showing why the purchase was made.
Cantu motioned to fire City Manager Deric Feacher with cause for nonfeasance and neglect of his duties and transparency. The Daytona Beach City Commission voted 5-2 against firing Feacher, with Cantu and Commissioner Anita May the only votes for firing him.
City auditor Abinet Belachew said there were multiple instances where the city’s purchasing card policy was not followed and documentation supporting the reasoning behind purchases was not provided.
“The reason why everything is questionable because we have no process,” he said.
Daytona Beach does have a policy in place for P-Card purchases that goes back to 2006. That policy outlines the spending amount and approval process.
Cantu said, ultimately, the city manager is responsible for city employees following city policies.
“According to our charter review, we have no say over the city employees. Nothing,” Cantu said. “They fall under [Feacher] and it's his job to make sure they are doing their job and following policy.”
Commissioner Paula Reid pointed out that these violations were likely occurring before Feacher took over the city manager position. The city should give him the opportunity to fix the issues identified in the audit before firing him.
“These policies have been in place for years. This didn't happen with this man,” Reid said. “The previous administrator didn't change the policies. All of us have sat up here and we haven't asked to look at the policies.”
Feacher was hired in 2021, replacing Jim Chisholm, who held the city manager seat for 16 years. Feacher’s contract with the city expires in May and the City Commission is scheduled to review it before then.
Commissioner Monica Paris pointed out that the city last performed an evaluation on Feacher for the 2022-2023 year, and has missed the last two evaluations. Mayor Derrick Henry appointed Reid to lead the 2025 evaluation during the April 1 meeting,
Paris voted against firing Feacher on April 1, but qualified her vote as a no “this evening.” She said she needed to have and review the detailed information from the audits before making a decision.
“For me I need to have all this information answered,” she said. “I can’t make an informed decision on this tonight.”
