Riviera Beach City Manager Bill Wilkins has been absent from City Hall for about six weeks after another driver slammed into his city-owned vehicle on Blue Heron Boulevard and kept going, leaving the 79-year-old hospitalized with a brain bleed, and city officials never told the public any of it happened.
Wilkins was driving along Blue Heron Boulevard on August 19 when another driver struck the front side of his vehicle and continued down the road, according to WPBF 25 News, which first reported the crash and Wilkins' extended absence. Wilkins told the station he does not know why the other driver fled after striking him. He said he received weeks of hospital care before entering a rehabilitation facility in West Palm Beach, and his wife said he suffered a brain bleed as a result of the crash, a detail another source also confirmed to the station.
Wilkins was driving a municipal city vehicle at the time of the collision, according to Stet News, which reported that city staff did not publicly announce the crash or answer initial public records requests about the vehicle involved. Wilkins last attended a public Riviera Beach city meeting on August 11, just over a week before the crash, per WPBF. He told the station he plans to return to his job once his doctor clears him to do so.
No Public Word From City Hall
The city made no public announcement about Wilkins' crash or his extended absence, according to the station's reporting. Riviera Beach resident Carolyn DiPaolo alerted WPBF 25 News Investigates to Wilkins' unexplained disappearance from public view, prompting the station's inquiry. City officials have not responded to questions about why residents were not informed, nor have they clarified whether Assistant City Manager Kevin Coppin was formally designated as acting city manager or what authority he holds while Wilkins recovers.
Coppin, a 35-year law enforcement veteran, former Riviera Beach Police deputy chief and law school graduate, has occupied the city manager's chair during 10 public council, CRA and utility board meetings since the crash, per the same Stet News account. Riviera Beach City Council member Glen Spiritis said city business has continued during Wilkins' absence and praised Coppin's performance, telling WPBF that Coppin is doing an excellent job backing Wilkins up. Spiritis said he remains in contact with Wilkins and speaks with him regularly from the hospital about city business, though he canceled a scheduled on-camera interview with the station after consulting with the city attorney.
A Hit-And-Run Still Unsolved
WPBF 25 News Investigates requested the police report from the August 19 crash and contacted Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman, but police had not publicly identified the driver or vehicle involved and had not issued any public appeal for information, according to the station. It remains unclear whether investigators have surveillance video or a vehicle description. Hit-and-run crashes are strikingly common in the area: preliminary 2025 data from the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency showed Palm Beach County recorded 6,614 hit-and-run crashes that year, resulting in 1,574 injuries and seven fatalities, according to the Shiner Law Group.
Under Florida Statute § 316.027, leaving the scene of a crash involving bodily injury is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, while fleeing a crash involving serious bodily injury rises to a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years, according to The Traffic Stop - Meltzer & Bell, P.A. Florida law requires all drivers involved in a crash to stop and render assistance regardless of fault, per the same source. Spiritis said the council is expected to publicly discuss Wilkins' crash and absence at its next meeting, according to WPBF.
A Contract Signed Days Before The Crash
The timing stings because Wilkins had barely settled into the job when the crash happened. The Riviera Beach City Council voted 3-2 on August 5 to approve a one-year contract for Wilkins that included a $265,668 annual base salary, $86,000 in lieu of state retirement contributions, a $22,145 health stipend, 50 paid leave days and a city vehicle, with opposing council members estimating his total compensation package at up to $454,682, according to Stet News. Council members Shirley Lanier and KaShamba Miller-Anderson voted against the agreement over compensation concerns, the outlet reported.
Wilkins previously served two stints as Riviera Beach city manager, first from 1979 to 1987 and again starting in 1999 before stepping down in 2008 citing health reasons, with a decade as assistant Palm Beach County manager in between, per Stet News. He came out of retirement in May to take the job again after the council ousted former City Manager Jonathan Evans with a $186,000 separation agreement on May 6 and appointed Wilkins on the spot from the audience as interim city manager, according to the outlet's reporting from that day. The city is now moving forward with a national search for a permanent city manager, with the council discussing a timeline for hiring an executive recruitment firm, per WPBF; Wilkins' current one-year contract is meant to provide experienced leadership while that search continues.
Turmoil Beyond The Crash
Wilkins' absence lands amid broader institutional strain at City Hall. Riviera Beach is dealing with hundreds of millions of dollars in redevelopment and infrastructure projects alongside major lawsuits and an ongoing FBI investigation involving city records, according to WPBF. Federal agents delivered subpoenas to City Hall in early March requesting records and electronic communications tied to Mayor Douglas Lawson, Council Chair Shirley Lanier and Councilman Bruce Guyton regarding the city's Marina Village redevelopment project, as reported by CBS12 News; no criminal charges had been announced at the time of that reporting.
In August, Lanier publicly asked the city to cover her legal defense fees connected to the federal investigation, telling colleagues she felt caught in investigators' net, a request Stet News reported prompted council debate over using taxpayer money for individual legal costs. Separately, Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman, who has served in the role for more than 14 years, filed a federal lawsuit against the city on August 31 alleging racial discrimination and retaliation following a conflict with Guyton over municipal travel reimbursement guidelines, as Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of the CFO's lawsuit. For now, Coppin continues handling day-to-day operations while Wilkins recovers and awaits medical clearance to return to the job he has now held across three separate chapters of his career.
