Firings were solely mayor's decision, Weatherford says

DAYTON–The decision to terminate employment of three City of Dayton employees on June 16 was Mayor Zac Weatherford's alone, the Dayton mayor informed the Dayton Chronicle last week, and those mayoral terminations were authorized in the contracts of each of those employees and did not require the mayor to consult with the City Council.

Open discussion of the matter needs to be done carefully, Weatherford was advised by the City's law firm. Mayor Weatherford did not disclose any reasons for the actions.

A special City Council Meeting was called by Weatherford on June 30 to discuss future staffing in the wake of the recent terminations of three senior City employees and also to hear an update presentation on broadband by the Executive Director of the Port of Columbia Jennie Dickinson.

Before the meeting got under way, community member and City Council candidate Laura Aukerman questioned the mayor about the terminations, but Weatherford said the discussion at the special meeting is limited to future staffing, not past staffing. "We are not allowed to discuss anything that is not on the preliminary agenda," Weatherford stated in opening the meeting. "I know there is a lot of questions that people are going to have for me and we will have a public comment section at our regular meeting which is scheduled for July 14."

The meeting regarding future staffing was scheduled in the wake of three terminations of senior City employees including City Administrator Trina Cole, City Public Works Director Jim Costello and City Planning Director Meagan Hayes.

Weatherford offered the same statement he said he gave to the councilmembers: "A difficult decision was made on June 16, 2021, to terminate the employment effective immediately of City Administrator Trina Cole, City Public Works Director Jim Costello and City Planning Director Meagan Hayes. Although their work and dedication to our city and community is very appreciated, it is time for a change. This will be a difficult transition period in which I would appreciate support and recommendation from the staff, Council and the standing committees. I wish all three former employees the best in their future endeavors."

The mayor presented to the Council the need for a recommendation for staffing in City Hall, specifically in finances and planning. He said there are a number of projects going and some are time sensitive. The mayor asked the Human Resources Committee to meet and make a recommendation.

Weatherford spoke of his discussion with the County Commissioners at their last work session on June 28 for a temporary interlocal agreement for planning services. The Commissioners agreed to this "in principle" and indicated a plan to approve it at the next regular Commissioners' meeting on July 6. The City has had previous agreements with the County for the planning services which cost the city $4,000 per month, according to Weatherford. The agreement would then be presented to the City Council for approval.

When Weatherford asked if the Council had any more discussion, Mayor Pro-Tem Dain Nysoe said, "Well, we are very limited as to what we can discuss in this particular meeting because we are limited with what we can discuss with any personnel matter which I think is shortcoming on behalf of the Council. I understand what the law says, but from a practical standpoint, there should be some areas that we can discuss, either in a public meeting or executive session or a special meeting so we can get down to the 'nitty gritty' as to what transpired to result in the actions of the mayor involving these three employees."

"And hope it doesn't happen again," Councilwoman Delphine Bailey interjected.

"And in particular, how much it's going to cost the city overall," Nysoe continued. "We came into this situation with a budget deficit–I'm not exact on the figures–of about $225,000 we were in the hole. We were trying to get out of that partially by instituting the 12% utility tax. Even that didn't cover the full amount. Subsequent termination of these employees also costs the City some money. So, we are going backwards financially. I hope that at this point in time we would be progressing to cover this shortfall that's facing the city. Hopefully we can discuss it in another format."

Weatherford responded: "I think the termination of the three employees did not cripple the City anymore and if/when we hire somebody to come in and take a look our finances, hopefully they can confirm that for us.

"But I think the Council and staff have made some very smart decisions in the past as far as planning for said contracts and such retirements," Weatherford said. "The money that was used on the former employees wasn't like it came out of current expense and put us more in the hole. They were all under contract and I think that when Council approved those contracts back in 2019 under former Mayor Craig George, they started that planning process of if those contracts were terminated to not hurt the City."

Bailey recommended that the Finance Committee also contribute to the discussion towards a recommendation.

While the Mayor is open to recommendations from any staff or Council members, he claimed the Human Resources Committee's purpose is suited for this type of recommendation. Weatherford expressed the need to move quickly and is considering hiring a financial consultant to keep the City finances in check during this transition, a step that would also need the Council's approval.

Bailey expressed concern that the City is now moving backwards to which the mayor–while stating he didn't disagree with her–emphasized that it is time for a change and he has hopes that a year from now the City will be in a better place than it was before this change. Weatherford also hoped the agreement with the County would only be temporary and the "Council can come up with a recommendation to move forward with hiring a planning director and help hiring some help for the City Hall staff with finances."

The Finance Committee said they can further discuss these matters at a scheduled meeting on Friday. Councilwoman Misty Yost, chairwoman of the Human Resources Committee, said the training of potential future employees needs to be considered when the committee meets Friday and those training costs should be considered together with any contract with the County. "Those are costs that the City cannot afford to not look into," Yost said. Bailey agreed.

"I would emphasize that the Council is absolutely correct," said City Attorney Quinn Plant. "At the regular business meetings, you guys control the agenda so if want to discuss any topic in greater detail, that's Council's prerogative. It's your meeting and you get to set the agenda."

"I was advised by our attorney that I need to be very careful about how I answer personnel questions," Weatherford said after the meeting adjourned and was asked for a more information about what led to his actions.

When asked if he could look at providing more information in a press release that is approved by his attorney, Weatherford agreed to ask him.

Weatherford affirmed the Council knows or knew nothing more than what was offered in the statement he provided during the meeting. "All three former employees were under contract that Council authorized the position of Mayor, not necessarily myself, but the position of Mayor, to terminate those contracts, if need be, so that's why this wasn't a Council discussion before it happened. This was solely the position of Mayor's decision," Weatherford said.

The work to bring in broadband internet to the city and surrounding area has been in conjunctive cooperation with former City Administrator Cole and Planning and Community Development Director Hayes.

Dickinson expressed hopes the plans would continue uninterrupted including the intentions of the former staff to propose dedicating a portion of ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money given to the City for COVID relief which approved uses include for broadband, towards the matching funds requirement for the grant for the project.

Weatherford extended his support of bringing broadband to the City. Councilwoman Bailey, chair of the Finance Committee, said the committee would need to review all information regarding the funding and how to use it to present a recommendation to the Council.

About 20 were present in person at the Parish Hall including the mayor, four councilmembers, three staff, Dickinson, and members of the public, including Marchand Hovrud and Laura Aukerman, who are running for Council. About 26 attended by Zoom including the remaining councilmembers and City Attorney Quinn Plant.