Hollywood Mayor Peter Bober is calling for City Manager Douglas J. Hewett to step down following his recent DUI arrest.
Bober said he spoke with Hewett on Tuesday.
“I told him that I thought his best move would be to resign at this juncture," Bober said.
He called a special meeting of the Hollywood City Commission for Friday morning to discuss the issue.
City spokesman Jaime Hernandez said Hewett is not commenting on the matter and is going to wait for the special meeting Friday.
Hernandez told NBC 6 the substance of the meeting has not been disclosed but confirmed the commission would discuss Hewett's arrest. He said it was unknown whether any action against the city manager would be taken.
Hewett, 41, was arrested in April when police said they saw him swerving in his car. Hewett told officials he was returning from Swinging Richards nightclub and admitted to drinking two Coors Light beers.
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“I thought there were a couple issues that occurred after the DUI that kind of tipped the scales for me,” Bober said, with the first being a posting Hewett did on Twitter.
“He basically had a Twitter page that called himself ‘the uncivil civil servant.’ And then after that it said ‘you’ve been warned!’ So I was concerned about that judgment, about the propriety of doing something like that,” Bober said.
The mayor said the other tipping point for him was after the city manager informed the city commission about his DUI arrest. Hewett gave Bober the police report on his DUI, and Bober said he asked the manager to inform all of the city commission members about details from the report such as his blood-alcohol level, what time of day it occurred, and the facts of the allegations.
“And I found out later that he had not told the commission, as I asked him to do, and for me that was not sound judgment in my opinion," Bober said.
Hewett signed his contract in February, relocating from North Carolina, and his first day on the job in Hollywood was March 1, Bober said. He has more than 16 years working in public administration, according to the City of Hollywood website.
Hernandez said that since the arrest, Hewett had been going to work every day and continues in his role as city manager.
"I deeply regret how this may negatively reflect on the City of Hollywood. I look forward to resolving this matter and continuing to serve the City,” Hewett said in a statement last week.
