Print
Comment
Rate
Meeting agenda addendum calls for discussion of Roush firing
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Benson City Councilwomen Dianne Tipton and Kathy Suagee are not going down without a fight, bringing up several major issues on Monday's agenda a week before they face the public in a recall election and while council member Lori McGoffin is out of town.
Suagee has called for the city to hold two closed-door meetings in the Monday (Aug. 25) council meeting. One is to discuss the termination of former City Manager Martin Roush, and one is to possibly reprimand Interim City Manager Glenn Nichols.
Nichols was appointed by a majority of the council to manage the city after Roush was fired in a 4-3 vote. Suagee and Tipton were not happy with Roush's termination, and even after he has been paid $40,0000 in severance, the councilwomen are not letting the issue die.
On the agenda sent out Friday by City Clerk Vicki Vivian, the call for executive session states, "Pursuant to A.R.S. section 38-431.03 for consultation for legal advice with the City Attorney concerning the recent dismissal, termination, of the former city manager, Martin Roush, and to instruct the attorney concerning the city's position with respect to settlement discussions to avoid litigation."
After the closed meeting, item four on the agenda calls for the council to take action in instructing the city attorney concerning the termination of the former city manager.
Mayor Mark Fenn said he and other council members were surprised to see the changes made to the agenda. Fenn said he has some concerns because Councilwoman McGoffin is on vacation at the moment, and should be on hand to discuss such important issues involving the city.
Fenn said he is also confused because Roush was terminated in a legal process, noting that he was an at-will employee, and the council fired him in a majority vote as required by law.
Earlier this week, Roush said he was not considering any action against the city, and was not planning to ask for his job back unless council members McGoffin and Vice Mayor Toney King asked him personally to do so.
King said he has no plans to ask Roush to come back, noting he stands by his decision.
"I'm not worried about (Suagee or Tipton) bringing all of this back up," King said. "Martin was terminated fairly. I voted to terminate him because he was trying to take over the city. He was treating employees badly and trying to eliminate the City Council completely. He isolated people that didn't want to do things his way."
As for Chief Nichols facing a reprimand, King said it's obvious that Suagee and Tipton aren't looking to treat employees fairly as they have claimed.
Tipton and Suagee asked for an executive session and agenda item to possibly reprimand the interim city manager for insubordination to a council member and the mishandling of public records, or more specifically the investigation report made public last week by Tucson attorney Mary Judge Ryan.
Nichols can choose to have the meeting publicly.
Sworn to secrecy by City Attorney Thomas Benavidez on Friday, Nichols was told Ryan's report could be given to every City Council member, but not to the public before Monday's meeting.
In an Aug. 11 email to the News-Sun, Benavidez said the report would be made public following the meeting, and Ryan's public address to the council.
King said Nichols was obviously "put between a rock and a hard place," being told by the city attorney not to make such information public. The document provided to council members before the meeting was marked confidential.
During the Aug. 18 meeting, after a question posed by Tipton, Ryan told the council that the report became a public record the moment she filed it with the city clerk.
King said if Nichols is going to be punished, other employees will have to be as well, especially the city attorney who swore him to secrecy and advised him not to make the document available.
Monday's meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m.
Benson City Councilwomen Dianne Tipton and Kathy Suagee are not going down without a fight, bringing up several major issues on Monday's agenda a week before they face the public in a recall election and while council member Lori McGoffin is out of town.
Suagee has called for the city to hold two closed-door meetings in the Monday (Aug. 25) council meeting. One is to discuss the termination of former City Manager Martin Roush, and one is to possibly reprimand Interim City Manager Glenn Nichols.
Nichols was appointed by a majority of the council to manage the city after Roush was fired in a 4-3 vote. Suagee and Tipton were not happy with Roush's termination, and even after he has been paid $40,0000 in severance, the councilwomen are not letting the issue die.
On the agenda sent out Friday by City Clerk Vicki Vivian, the call for executive session states, "Pursuant to A.R.S. section 38-431.03 for consultation for legal advice with the City Attorney concerning the recent dismissal, termination, of the former city manager, Martin Roush, and to instruct the attorney concerning the city's position with respect to settlement discussions to avoid litigation."
After the closed meeting, item four on the agenda calls for the council to take action in instructing the city attorney concerning the termination of the former city manager.
Mayor Mark Fenn said he and other council members were surprised to see the changes made to the agenda. Fenn said he has some concerns because Councilwoman McGoffin is on vacation at the moment, and should be on hand to discuss such important issues involving the city.
Fenn said he is also confused because Roush was terminated in a legal process, noting that he was an at-will employee, and the council fired him in a majority vote as required by law.
Earlier this week, Roush said he was not considering any action against the city, and was not planning to ask for his job back unless council members McGoffin and Vice Mayor Toney King asked him personally to do so.
King said he has no plans to ask Roush to come back, noting he stands by his decision.
"I'm not worried about (Suagee or Tipton) bringing all of this back up," King said. "Martin was terminated fairly. I voted to terminate him because he was trying to take over the city. He was treating employees badly and trying to eliminate the City Council completely. He isolated people that didn't want to do things his way."
As for Chief Nichols facing a reprimand, King said it's obvious that Suagee and Tipton aren't looking to treat employees fairly as they have claimed.
Tipton and Suagee asked for an executive session and agenda item to possibly reprimand the interim city manager for insubordination to a council member and the mishandling of public records, or more specifically the investigation report made public last week by Tucson attorney Mary Judge Ryan.
Nichols can choose to have the meeting publicly.
Sworn to secrecy by City Attorney Thomas Benavidez on Friday, Nichols was told Ryan's report could be given to every City Council member, but not to the public before Monday's meeting.
In an Aug. 11 email to the News-Sun, Benavidez said the report would be made public following the meeting, and Ryan's public address to the council.
King said Nichols was obviously "put between a rock and a hard place," being told by the city attorney not to make such information public. The document provided to council members before the meeting was marked confidential.
During the Aug. 18 meeting, after a question posed by Tipton, Ryan told the council that the report became a public record the moment she filed it with the city clerk.
King said if Nichols is going to be punished, other employees will have to be as well, especially the city attorney who swore him to secrecy and advised him not to make the document available.
Monday's meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m.
 |
||
| Linda Stitzer of ADWR guest speaker Tuesday |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bensonnews-sun.com.
