Taylor Keeps Job, But Leave Raises Concerns

By a unanimous vote late Monday night, the City Council overturned Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' firing last week of City Administrator Bibi Taylor.

An audience including many who praised Taylor’s performance in the role broke into applause after the roll call vote. Taylor was hired as finance director in July 2009 and only served since January as city administrator, but speakers said she shone on the job from the start. Resident Frank D’Aversa said it only took one meeting to realize her talent and said he told the person next to him, “You got a winner.”

But winning her job back Monday still did not answer the question of who will carry out day-to-day operations in her absence while on maternity leave. Taylor is due to deliver her third child at any moment. No sooner had the applause died down than officials began dickering over the leave issue.

Robinson-Briggs began by pointing out that Taylor’s leave starts Jan. 3 and that she was not going to be let go on Christmas Day, as has been reported. She said she was looking forward to working closer with Taylor. However, she said Monday she has named Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson acting city administrator and is considering former Finance Director Ron West to serve in that role, “short term or long term.”

The mayor had named West as a possible successor to Taylor after last week’s firing and said Monday, “He may still need to be part of the plan.”

Two unanswered questions were how long Taylor might be out on leave and whether she could work from home. Taylor had attended the closed session and was in the audience, but did not take part in the discussion. City Council President Annie McWilliams said Taylor had indicated she was willing to work from home, but Robinson-Briggs said flatly, “If someone is on maternity leave, they are on maternity leave.”

Councilwoman Bridget Rivers had another concern, grilling Williamson on his powers as acting city administrator and asking how a future acting city administrator would be able to handle decisions, including possible layoffs, arising from budget passage that is expected next week.

The discussion ended with the council requesting the mayor to come up with a temporary plan of action. But then the talk turned to two controversial budget items, a reduction of Recreation Division funds that would leave the fulltime superintendent working part-time and the proposed elimination of the Purchasing Division in favor of putting its functions under a new chief finance officer.

In public comment before council action, many residents praised Recreation Superintendent Dave Wynn and asked the council to keep him working fulltime. When the council began discussing the budget amendments up for a vote Monday, the mayor voiced support for Wynn and backed it up by reading out a long list of towns that have fulltime recreation directors.

“If there is a personality clash, I ask you to look past that. We need a fulltime recreation director,” she said.

Robinson-Briggs also spoke against eliminating the Purchasing Division, saying the only thing that kept the city on “the straight and narrow” during the prolonged lack of a chief finance officer was Purchasing and Audit & Control.

The mayor also read from the Municipal Code a portion on duties of the City Council, saying the governing body may appoint all committees except for administrative purposes. She alleged that the Finance Committee, which drafted the budget amendments that affected the two divisions, overstepped its role.

But McWilliams said once the council made cuts, “How you execute them is up to you.”

Rather than attempting to make further budget changes at this point, the council passed the amendments Monday. A public hearing on the amendments will be held on Dec. 27, after which the council hopes to pass the budget.

--Bernice Paglia