Fort White In Trouble Again – Third Clerk
Resigns
What does "right away" mean in Fort White?
September 7, 2025 8:43 am | 4 min read
Fort White Website the day after the Council authorized
advertising for a new clerk "right away."
(Columbia County Observer graphic)
FORT WHITE, FL – Once again, Fort White is looking for a Town Clerk. On Thursday evening, the Town Council met in special session to figure out what it was going to do upon the resignation of its third clerk in seven months.
Carrie Shaper at a bid opening. Without any prior
experience, Ms. Shaper was in over her head from the
beginning.
Carrie Shaper, a.k.a. clerk number three, had been at the Town only a few months. The Council hired her with the full knowledge that she was lacking in governmental experience. However, the Council agreed that Mayor George Thomas would train her.
This was problematic, as the Mayor also had no governmental experience.
Fort White Mayor George Thomas was authorized by the
Town Council to train the new clerk. A difficult task,
as he had no municipal experience before being elected
less than a year ago. (Columbiia County Observer file
photo)
Compounding the Town's woes, Lindsey Lander, the Town’s experienced municipal attorney, having enough of the Town’s drama, resigned in April, leaving the Council to find another attorney. The new attorney was not a good pick. He got another job and resigned a couple of months ago.
The Town hired its latest attorney, Rhett Bullard of Live Oak, in another Town hinky process.
According to the Town's website, the evening's special meeting was scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm and end by 6:30 pm . It is not clear when the meeting started.
Confusion right from the beginning: “We’re close enough”
At about 5:30 pm, Mayor Thomas announced, “Okay. We're close enough. We're gonna go ahead and start.”
While "close enough" rules in horse shoes, that is not the way thing are suppossed to work when calling a meeting to order.
After the roll call, Mayor Thomas announced that the Town Attorney could only stay for thirty minutes and asked Mr. Bullard to give the Council “a ten-minute warning” before his departure.
Attorney Bullard explained to the Council that there was only one item on the agenda, “The resignation of the Town Clerk.” “So essentially you all are gonna try to decide, I'm assuming that you want to move forward with advertising to do that.”
Attorney Bullard explained that once they did that, “technically, the meeting's over,” and that would end the discussion. He mentioned, “The Chair can't unilaterally adjourn the meeting, except under the circumstances where the agenda items have concluded, whatever the conclusion is.”
Attorney Rhett Bullard had small town governmental
experience. However, he gives more that legal advice.
More often than not, he acts as the sixth council
person.
Mayor Thomas took exception, basically telling the attorney he could adjourn the meeting when he wanted. He said it was in a resolution. It wasn’t.
Councilman Harrell stated that he submitted a special meeting request with two items.
According to the Town Charter, it takes two council members to call a special meeting.
Councilwoman Kathryn Terry, a retired school teach, has
consistently had trouble waiting to be recognized before
speaking. (Being recognized before speaking is in the
rules). Most folks think her heart is in the right
place. However, by her lack of decorum, she continues to
be a bad example to the children in the school district.
(Columbia County Observer file photo)
After some discussion, Councilwoman Terry advised that she also requested a special meeting.
It wasn’t clear from whom Ms. Terry requested the special meeting.
Neither Councilman Harrell's nor Councilwoman Terry's special meeting requests were included in the agenda material.
Council discussion brought out that Mayor Thomas spends a lot of time in Town Hall.
Eleven minutes into the meeting, the Council was still trying to decide if it was going to add anything to the agenda. New items can't be added to special meeting agendas. That is why they are special.
Mayor Thomas said, "We're eleven minutes in and we haven't decided on the agenda yet. We have one agenda item ‘Resignation of the Town Clerk.”
Fort White Councilman Lonnie Harrell called for the
special meeting. It takes two council members to call
for a meeting. This avoids confusion. (Columbia County
Observer file photo)
Councilman Harrell again brought up his special meeting request. It was never clear if Mr. Harrell’s request was the same as Councilwoman Terry’s request.
After more interruptions, blurting out, and overtalking (so much for decorum), Attorney Bullard said, "It would be beneficial to hire people with experience, especially in where we are in the moment.”
Finally, after fifteen minutes, the Council approved an agenda that needed no approval. It was a special meeting.
Councilman Harrell said he wanted the advertisement for the clerk to be advertised with the League of Cities, the Clerk's Association, the Manager's Association, and the Town website.
Councilwoman Terry suggested, "Indeed and stuff like that."
The Mayor asked about having a temp agency send candidates. The last clerk from the temp agency resigned.
Councilman Bill Koon said the Town needed to hire someone with experience. About the past Town hires, he said, “I think we need to look a little better and find somebody strong at this job.”
Mayor Thomas mentioned that the Council kept running off the clerks. He said, “If we keep running them off, we're just gonna kind of keep being in the same spot.”
Councilman Harrell objected, “I object to that term – running them off.”
Councilman Bill Koon wanted to hire an experienced
clerk. The Council went along with him. (Columbia County
Observer file photo)
After some heated discussion between the Mayor and Councilman Harrell, Councilman Koon said, "I want somebody to come here and know what they're doing. They just gotta adapt to this Town. We've not had that since Connie [Brecheen] left.”
Councilwoman Terry warned about just picking anybody to fill the position. She said, “Sometimes you can't just pick with who's in the pool. You gotta wait until the pool's rich.”
Councilman Koon, referencing paying for advertising, said you can’t always get everything for free. He said, “I think we need to hit whatever is strong out there and see what we can find.”
Finally, the Council appointed the deputy clerk as the interim Town clerk until the Town finds a qualified candidate that passes muster.
The Council agreed to begin advertising right away.
Epilogue
Right away has different meanings in different places.
By the end of business on Friday, September 5, there was no advertisement on the Town website for a town clerk.
Updated: changed "third clerk in two years" to "third clerk in seven months."