Hollywood City Manager Resigns After DUI Arrest

City commission votes 6-1 to accept manager's resignation

Hollywood City Manager Douglas J. Hewett resigned on Friday following his DUI arrest in April after just weeks on the job.

The Hollywood City Commission agreed 6 to 1 to accept Hewett's resignation at a special meeting Friday morning. Conditions include a severance package, health insurance and Hewett's word he won't sue the city.

All commission members agreed Hewett did a great job in his short time there, but most said the DUI charge created a lack of trust in him and his substantial role within the city.

"My confidence is shaken in the city manager and that's really why we're here today," Mayor Peter Bober said. "It's more than the sum of the parts, and the police reports and what he did since then. I want to feel confident and I just don't have that level of confidence this early and it's really unfortunate."

Hewett, 41, was arrested April 8 when police said they spotted him swerving in his car in the area of Northeast 156th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Hewett told officers he was returning from Swinging Richards nightclub and admitted to drinking two Coors Light beers, police said.

Earlier this week, Bober called for Hewett to step down.

“I told him that I thought his best move would be to resign at this juncture," Bober said Wednesday. He added that Twitter posts from Hewett also had him questioning the city manager's judgment.

"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.

At Friday's meeting, Bober said Hewett had called him immediately after his arrest and said he was in Hewett's corner until he told Hewett to tell the other commissioners what happened and Hewett didn't.

"I know he's asking for his resignation, so that means if you're gonna be anything in this city, you have to be perfect," Commissioner Fran Russo 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.

"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.

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