City Administrator Controversy Continues

Image: Snow drifts in the blizzard.

The mayor and the governing body sparred Monday over the aftermath of council action to restore City Administrator Bibi Taylor's job.

Taylor was fired by the mayor just as she was going on maternity leave, but the council overrode the decision to keep her on. Taylor gave birth to a daughter last week.

On Monday, the ongoing dispute continued with Councilman Adrian Mapp finding fault with documents listing Dan Williamson as corporation counsel after he was named acting city administrator by the mayor. Mapp said Williamson could not serve in dual capacity according to the city charter.

"You can't have that," he said vehemently, and Councilwoman Bridget Rivers called it "another misstep."

Williamson glossed it over as an error and along with acting Corporation Counsel James Ventantonio, formerly the city solicitor, promised to fix it.

In further discussion, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs responded to questions about plans for day-to-day operations of the city by saying she had planned to bring in an acting city administrator "from the community," but told the council, "We don't have the funding due to your move."

She said Williamson and Ventantonio will therefore continue in their acting roles.

Robinson-Briggs said she was still waiting for Taylor to give her an "absolute schedule" for her maternity leave, which may span Jan. 3 to March 1. She said "some time" had been offered to Taylor, but she did not respond. Williamson said he had asked Taylor for a "written proposal." When she does, he said, he will submit it to the mayor.

The governing body spent two hours Dec. 20 in closed conference with Taylor before members emerged to state they were overturning the mayor's action. On Monday, Councilman William Reid said he was not opposed to consulting with Taylor on important matters, including impending layoffs, an IT shared services deal with the school district and more.

"Hopefully, we will get these things done for the benefit of the city," Reid said.

Given the mayor's declaration that no funding exists for the previously-discussed proposed hiring of former Finance Director Ron West as acting city administrator, Councilman Cory Storch asked whether the auditor could find some money in the budget. But the mayor said if there was a funding source, she would love to "not to have a layoff plan" due to budget cuts.

Council President Annie McWilliams said she understood Taylor had offered to work some hours, but Williamson said the decision rested with the mayor. In turn, Robinson-Briggs said other mothers had not been permitted to work from home while on maternity leave.

The discussion went on with Rivers challenging Williamson's ability to run the city day-to-day and the mayor defending him.

McWilliams wrapped it up by saying the most important thing to get out of the discussion was "what is the plan going forward." Rather than prolong the discussion Monday, she said it would continue "maybe in January."

The council will hold its annual reorganization at 8 p.m. on Jan. 3 in Municipal Court. The first agenda-fixing session of 2011 will take place Jan. 10 in City Hall Library, followed by a regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18.

--Bernice Paglia