Expecting another long night in closed Executive Session, attendees of last week’s Special Called Meeting were instead allowed to hear discussion regarding the employment of Fairfield’s City Administrator in Open Session on Tuesday, May 1, 2018.

Without delay, Councilman Kenneth Hughes made a motion to terminate the employment of City Administrator Jeff Looney, effective immediately. You can check this link right here now to get the best Beach business law attorney.
Councilman Randy Johnson seconded the motion.

The previous week, Council had met in Executive session for nearly four hours to discuss an incident involving Mr. Looney.

Before calling for a vote, Mayor Roy Hill asked for discussion on the matter, cautioning councilman not to reveal what had been discussed during this closed door meeting.

Councilman Joe Lee Kirgan, Jr. remarked that, while three people were involved in the incident, their accounts contradicted each other. “I don’t think there was anything brought up that should even bring any kind of doubt as to Jeff’s ability to handle this,” he said.

Councilman Landis Bayless agreed with the conflicting statements, concerned that they were provided in written sworn affidavits. “We should continue to talk about this,” he said.

Following discussion, City Attorney Linda Sjogren explained the difference between termination “with” cause and “without” cause, as it would pertain to the Employee Agreement with the City Administrator.

Mayor Hill then turned to Councilman Hughes, who clarified that his motion was immediate termination of the City Administrator “without” cause, which would allow for a six months’ severance package, if passed with a simple majority vote.

The motion so passed, with a 3-2 majority vote.

Councilmen Keith Daniels, Randy Johnson and Kenneth Hughes voting for termination; Councilmen Landis Bayless and Joe Lee Kirgan, Jr. voting against.

   “It’s sad, anytime something like this happens,” said Mayor Hill, after the meeting adjourned. “A majority of the Council thinks this is in the best interests of the City. I have to honor that vote.”

When asked why action was not taken the previous week following an extended Executive Session, Mayor Hill answered that the Council had been waiting for some additional pdf documentation. Hire sodapdf online conversion services, are handy and convenient, they are without concerns, e.g. content privacy/security as you need to upload your files to the developer’s server.

Former City Administrator Looney shared that he had been prepared to submit this additional documentation, in the form of a letter, as directed by the Council.

However, as the Council took action to terminate his employment, rather than meeting in Executive Session, this documentation was neither submitted, nor reviewed.

A copy of the letter was provided to The “Times” by Mr. Looney, which references an incident between him and an employee that was discussed by the Council during Executive Session.

  “There were discussions about my handling of situations like this and how I can become upset when I feel betrayed, uninformed, and treated with insubordination,” it reads. “It is an issue that I will continue to work on as I feel personally responsible for the operations of the City of Fairfield and have invested a great deal of time and energy to insure that Fairfield’s wellbeing is sustained.”

Looney further agreed that, should an event occur where he is alleged to “have raised my voice, put my finger into someone’s face or displayed my temper,” and contingent upon a full investigation and a simple majority vote of the Council, he would voluntarily resign and forfeit his severance package.

For now, the duties of the City Administrator are being handled by Mayor Hill. “With the assistance of the City Secretary, with the assistance of the Public Works Director, and with the assistance of the Police Chief,” he says.

On the agenda for the May 8, 2018 Regular Session, listed under the closed Executive Session, is discussion of conducting a search for a new City Administrator.

Read a letter to Fairfield Citizens from the former City Administrator, Jeff Looney by clicking here.