The Apopka Voice has learned that The City of Apopka will terminate the contract with Richard Anderson, the beleaguered former Apopka Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) turned lobbyist and consultant. Commissioners Doug Bankson and Billie Dean confirmed that they were notified of the contract termination yesterday.
Dean stated that he received an email from City Administrator Glenn Irby, written by City Attorney Cliff Shepard informing him of the action taken by the City.
Richard Anderson
Anderson’s contract is $264,000 per year. In September of 2014, he stepped down as CAO to become a Lobbyist and Consultant for the city in a hastily voted for agreement by The City Council. The Council voted 4-1 in favor of Anderson’s job change, despite the issue not being on the agenda.
As previously reported, Anderson is currently a person-of-interest in a Florida Highway Patrol hit-and-run investigation and the defendant in a lawsuit regarding the same incident.
Anderson is being sued by Michael Falcon, the victim of a hit-and-run crash on April 5, 2016. In the complaint filed in the 5th Judicial Circuit Court for Lake County on April 19th, Falcon alleges that Anderson was the owner of the truck that collided with his car, and was also the driver of the vehicle.
The Florida Highway Patrol confirmed that Anderson is a person of interest in that hit-and-run crash last month, which injured Falcon to the extent that he was airlifted to the Orlando Regional Medical Center.
"The only person of interest in this hit-and-run investigation is the owner of the truck," said Sergeant Kim Montes, Public Affairs Officer for The Florida Highway Patrol.
The FHP Motor Vehicle Accident Report states Anderson’s truck was going the wrong way at 1:30 a.m. on April 5th and crashed into Falcon’s car.
The FHP said it’s trying to identify who was behind the wheel of Anderson’s black Dodge Ram truck when it crashed head-on into Falcon’s gray Toyota Corolla in Lake County road last month.
In FHP's report, witnesses who stopped at the scene said the truck's driver "...possibly could have been a male with white hair and glasses who was seen walking around the crash scene talking on a cellphone and then left in an unknown direction.”
Montes went on to say that Anderson was contacted about the incident and did not provide information as to who was driving the vehicle at the time of the hit-and-run. The investigation remains open according to Montes.
Anderson's Dodge Ram was left behind at the crash scene.
Falcon and his wife are suing Anderson, accusing him of being behind the person behind the wheel.
