Free Republic

The Austin City Council on Wednesday voted to fire City Manager Spencer Cronk following his response to the winter storm earlier this month. The council voted 10-1 in a special called session, with only Natasha Harper-Madison (District 1) voting against Cronk's firing. Cronk's termination is effective Thursday, Feb. 16. He will receive a one-year severance of $463,001.50, under a City ordinance in which he was hired in 2018. The council has appointed Jesús Garza, who served as Austin's city manager from 1994 to 2002, to serve as interim city manager. “I serve at the pleasure of the mayor and council...

In the small rural city that I live in the UP of Michigan the City Manager walked into his office on July 13, submitted his letter of resignation effective immediately, turned his keys in and walked out the door. Now the proverbial piece of excrement wants to have the acceptance of his resignation rescinded. The city council has already appointed a interim city manager and the person is doing the job, suddenly the excrement wants his job back. the city manager's history throughout all of Michigan uper and lower peninsula is that he has been terminated from eight other positions

Using Dark Force to Maintain Sith Power DESERT HOT SPRINGS, CA – Sometimes a casual remark is all that is needed to reveal what a person really thinks. Kinda like the way liquor will loosen a man’s lips. Obviously, the city of Desert Hot Springs is not the evil empire. But read the city manager’s emails and its obvious he thinks it is. This is no case of sloppy sentence construction. In an email to a private citizen Rick Daniels is caught politicking, using city equipment and on city time. The email to [Name Withheld] was attempting to sway this...

An investigation by the Riverside County District Attorney says it appears illegal meetings in violation of the Brown Act have been taking place inside city hall between City Manager Rick Daniels and three council members. The inevitable knee-jerk denial squirting out of city hall is that no Brown Act violations are taking place and nothing is wrong. No matter. The evidence is in hand, the result of our public information requests. The city manager’s own city email account is the smoking gun.

A city that kept in the dark about finances is facing a budget deficit of over $3 million. City manager Rick Daniels finally admitted the red ink this week.

Wastebusters Take On Government Spending FOX 11 News video report. Murietta - In the November election, Murrieta residents ignited a fire between its government and those who want to stop government waste. The "wastebusters" say their community represents what the nation is feeling, but city officials tell us it's a deathknell for Murrieta. Script: A cowbell calls the meeting to order. Ernie White: "We made a statement and that statement was very simple, we are going to take this country back like it or not!.... We won on November 2." At Richie's Real American Diner, it's a celebration. Big wins...

LARGO, Fla. — A city manager facing dismissal after going public with plans to get a sex change said Thursday that he plans to fight to keep his job, because his case represents the struggle "to deal with morality, sexuality and gender." Steve Stanton said he would try to persuade the Largo City Commission to reverse its 5-2 vote last month to begin the process of firing him. His appeal means the commission must now hold another public hearing so he can make a final appeal to keep the post he has held for 14 years. "I want to get...

Saying they remain deeply troubled, San Jose City Council members nonetheless voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to end one of the broadest probes in city government history. Council members said they were unsure they'd ever find absolute proof top administrators were culpable in the city's bungled $8 million technology deal involving Cisco Systems. The 9-1 vote -- Councilman Dave Cortese dissented -- orders the city's independent investigator to cease reviewing the Cisco deal and all but ensures City Manager Del Borgsdorf and City Attorney Rick Doyle will survive the worst scandal to rock San Jose government in 20 years. A criminal investigation...

An independent investigator has concluded that there is ``undisputed, direct'' evidence that San Jose's top administrator knew of clandestine communication between his staff and Cisco Systems that tainted an $8 million technology contract last year. The third report in two weeks issued by San Francisco law firm Hanson Bridgett contains some of the most damning e-mails to date connecting City Manager Del Borgsdorf to problems with the contract, which was ultimately voided because it illegally favored Cisco. Included is an e-mail from Cisco about contract issues that Borgsdorf and his deputy, Ed Shikada, received June 22, three hours before the...

Five months ago City Manager Del Borgsdorf set the bar in San Jose's burgeoning technology scandal: City employees caught lying would be out of a job. But now, city council members are deeply ambivalent about applying the same punishment to the city's top appointed official. An independent investigator concluded last week that Borgsdorf either lied or ran city government in such a way that his entire senior staff failed for months to tell him what they knew about an $8 million contract that favored Cisco Systems.

San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales said Thursday that he has demanded City Manager Del Borgsdorf explain what he and others in his office knew of concerns about favoritism in a multimillion-dollar technology contract after an independent investigator this week concluded all of Borgsdorf's aides knew and the city manager himself ``more likely than not'' also had been briefed. Borgsdorf for months has denied that he or any member of his staff had been warned of serious legal problems with an $8 million contract to install Cisco Systems equipment in the new City Hall. However, an independent investigator said Tuesday that...

Lamont Ewell cites voter passage of strong-mayor government 6:04 p.m. November 12, 2004 NELVIN CEPEDA / Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO – City Manager Lamont Ewell Friday announced that he will resign effective July 1 due to a voter-approved measure that calls for a strong mayor form of government in San Diego. "The recent passage of the strong mayor form of governance will significantly alter the role of the city manager in this organization," Ewell stated in a letter to Mayor Dick Murphy and the City Council. "I am desirous of pursuing future opportunities in a council-manager form of government consistent with...

Seeking to end a searing, months-long controversy, San Jose City Manager Del Borgsdorf on Friday concluded his investigation into the city's bungled City Hall technology deal with Cisco Systems by laying all blame on three administrators who already have resigned or been demoted. ``You ought to have the confidence, and competence, at the department head level,'' Borgsdorf said. ``The standard of performance at that level was unacceptable.'' In releasing a nine-page summary of a personnel investigation conducted last month, Borgsdorf said he believed there was nothing he or his immediate deputies did wrong as the city's technology and purchasing managers...

Racial sparks fly at council meeting By JOHN FUQUAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Lubbock City Councilman Frank Morrison was jeered during a council meeting Thursday after telling members of the audience he was outraged by their criticism of the council's efforts to hire a new city manager. Eleven speakers rebuked the council, and many said they believe race was a factor in the council's decision to reject two minority finalists for city manager, including former Interim City Manager Tommy Gonzalez. Council members sat silently until Morrison asked to speak at the end of the session. He said he had felt a number of...