ANNA MARIA – On Saturday, Oct. 3, Anna Maria Mayor Mark Short discussed by phone the resignation of City Clerk and city administrator appointee Amber LaRowe.
LaRowe tendered her resignation just days before she was to begin her tenure as Anna Maria’s first city administrator, as a result of the appointment Short requested and the city commission approved in late August. LaRowe resigned less than a week after four city employee workplace complaints filed in May resurfaced in a Sept. 22 email that finance department assistant Jeff Charles sent to Short, LaRowe and other staff members.
The workplace complaints filed in May pertained primarily to the workplace behavior of LaRowe and Code Enforcement Manager Tom Collins. The complaints about LaRowe included alleged nepotism and improper hiring practices, unequal enforcement of workplace policies, retaliation, hostile conduct and the improper disclosure of confidential employee information as the city’s human resources administrator. In June, LaRowe received a written reprimand related to her human resources duties.
When discussing LaRowe’s resignation, Short said, “Amber submitted her resignation to me on Monday, September 28th.”
“Her resignation letter expresses frustration, particularly with respect to the events that came out on September 22nd. They addressed requests from her regarding some follow-up on things at the time.”
Those events included The Sun obtaining copies of the emails Charles and City Planner Ashley Austin sent Short on Sept. 22. One of Charles’ emails included copies of the four employee complaints submitted to Short in May.
“There is an investigation ongoing with respect to the matter that was raised in a couple of the emails that you received. The items that they raised were all investigated and addressed back in May,” Short said.
“There was some frustration with respect to concerns on timeliness of follow-up, which any investigation, any evaluation requires time, it requires outside assistance and all of those things were in motion and continue to be in motion at this time,” Short said.
“The only new thing that is being investigated is the allegations regarding what one employee claims he overheard being discussed behind closed doors in another employee’s office,” Short said regarding a new complaint Austin filed on Sept. 22 regarding a statement LaRowe’s husband, Ryan, a city employee, allegedly made at the workplace that day.
Short was asked if the city commissioners were aware of the employee complaints filed in May and those investigative findings before they were asked in August to appoint LaRowe to serve as city administrator.
“When those complaints came up, they were individually discussed with each of the commissioners,” Short said.
When asked if the commissioners read the employee complaints themselves, Short said: “They were available to them. I do not recall who may have requested to actually read them.”
Short acknowledged that LaRowe received a written reprimand in June because she discussed confidential human resources concerns in a workplace setting in which her comments could be overheard by other employees.
When asked if the city is in “chaos,” as recently suggested by a Facebook user, Short said, “Absolutely not. I mean if people would take a step back and look at all the good things we accomplished. The naysayers on Facebook like to focus on something dramatic or whatever, but you never hear them talk about how amazing the pier is moving, the stuff we have done with respect to swales, and other improvements that have been made since the storms in spite of still having issues regarding reimbursements for FEMA – just like Longboat Key, Manatee County and other communities are experiencing.”
When asked if he plans to hire a new city administrator, Short said, “I am currently taking a look at that as an option.”
He noted the position, if sought, would be advertised, and previous experience as a city administrator would be part of the applicant evaluation process.
Short was asked how LaRowe’s departure affects the business of the city.
“It has required us to take all the things that she was overseeing, and parking is a perfect example. She was our liaison with the consultant assisting us with that,” he said of the city’s ongoing efforts to implement a paid parking program.
“And there were a couple other things that initiatives we were working through that she was the point person for. So, as part of the transition, we sat down and looked at all of that. We have assigned others within the city staff to take ownership and responsibility of those things as we go forward. We had to re-leverage the things that she had in motion and push it over to other people,” Short said.
Short said Ryan LaRowe was still a city employee.
MAYOR’S APPRECIATION
Short expressed his appreciation for LaRowe’s contributions to the city.
“We brought Amber in in March of 2025 as part of my process of segregating duties that were inherited with respect to functions within the city. She took over the city clerk role and shortly thereafter the HR role,” he said.
“During her tenure here, Amber did a lot of things for the city that hadn’t been done – things like updating our entire employee handbook, which hadn’t formally been done in several years. She helped us update our purchasing and procurement policies, which hadn’t been addressed in something like 10 years,” Short said.
He said LaRowe also initiated changing the city’s contracted information technology (IT) services from a firm that had one municipal client (Anna Maria) to a firm that provides similar IT services to the cities of Holmes Beach, Palmetto and others.
Short said the city’s emergency response documents had not been updated in at least 15 years, and LaRowe initiated that process.
“She came in and saw a city that was lacking with respect to policies and procedures and got us more up to date, and she took it upon herself to do that. Her contributions to the city in those areas and others was significant during her tenure here,” Short said.
“We have made significant progress with the city that externally people can see as well as, like I mentioned earlier, internally with respect to just getting the back office, the operations and those kinds of things up to, you know, where it needs to be, which in the future means things are going to operate a lot more efficiently and economically,” Short said.
Related coverage:
LaRowe resigns before stepping into new role
Employee complaints resurface in Anna Maria
