Daytona Beach City Manager Survives Firing Attempt

Daytona Beach City Manager Deric Feacher survived an attempt to fire him during Wednesday's City Commission meeting. Commissioner Stacy Cantu made a motion to end the city's employment of Feacher once his current contract expires on May 31. Cantu's motion received only one other vote of support, from Commissioner Quanita May. The five votes against the motion came from Mayor Derrick Henry and commissioners Monica Paris, Ken Strickland, Dannette Henry, and Paula Reed. Although Feacher's employment survived for the time being, the City Commission did take steps toward increased scrutiny of his job performance. A performance evaluation is now slated to be conducted for the first time in multiple years. Once Feacher's contract comes up for renewal at the end of May, the Commission will again be tasked with voting on its confidence in him. The reasoning for Cantu's motion to fire Feacher drew from recent scrutiny into the city government's finances. An auditor determined that the Daytona Beach Fire Department spent over $50,000 on food and drinks, plus over half a million dollars in vehicle maintenance over a four-year span. The discussion about Feacher's job was preceded by the presentation of two audit reports to the City Commission. Abinet Belachew, the Daytona Beach City Auditor since September 2025, presented his findings on the DBFD and on car allowances for city employees. According to Belachew, the vehicle maintenance expenditures were in direct violation of city policy for employees' purchasing cards. That means over $500,000 was spent improperly. Furthermore, the food charges - spent at chains such as Applebee's, Burger King, and Five Guys - are not explicitly against policy but were not backed up with memos for why they were being billed to the city. Though Belachew credited Feacher for his response to the audit report, Commissioner Cantu expressed her desire for accountability. For her, that meant ending the city's five-year employment of its city manager. She was not alone in that instinct, but did not receive the support needed to get her way.