City Managers are known to be influential public servants, but City Manager David Frasher of Grants Pass, Oregon may soon find himself involuntarily powerless.
In June, the Grants Pass city council tried to fire Frasher via a motion that would have had Frasher terminated beginning July 1, but the city Mayor Mike Murphy vetoed the council’s action.
The event took place at the city’s Rogue Theatre, where the council held its meeting to accommodate a crowd the Grants Pass Daily Courier estimated at several hundred, with dozens testifying for Frasher.
According to the city’s Web site, just recently, five City Council members (Mark Townes, Lisa Berger, Bill Kangas, Ward Warren and Rob Pell) voted to force the firing of the City Manager by a Motion after the same Council members failed to secure enough votes to override Murphy’s veto of a prior resolution to fire the City Manager.
According to local network affiliate KTVZ, Murphy called the firing attempt unjustified, unnecessary, and not supported by the public.
Mayor Murphy stated on the city’s Web site that, for now, Frasher will remain on the job and that he has serious concerns for how the Council members were operating.
“Our whole system of government is based on checks and balances and this attempt to short circuit the process is offensive and, I believe, illegal,” stated Murphy.
Rumors have swirled regarding why the council made the firing attempt.
Some citizens have revealed that the city council wants to save the manager’s salary in an attempt to shift those dollars to new salaries for themselves.
The most popular reason, which Frasher advocated himself, is that some of the newer City Council members don’t respect the City’s Council-manager form of government and want more power in operating Grants Pass on a day-to-day basis.
The real reason may remain a mystery though, considering that the council members have vowed to be silent, citing legal advice.
That has not set well with many residents.
Local affiliate KDRV reported that a group of Frasher supporters met in front of the Rogue Theatre the night the Council made its firing motion attempting to gain signatures to recall six of the councilors who were out for Frasher.
They will need a total of 1,600 signatures for a recall election.
The situation has now turned to legal proceedings.
The city’s Web site indicated that the same five Council members who tried to eliminate Frasher have hired a special out-of-town attorney ($190 per hour) in an effort to overcome the Mayor’s veto with a Motion so that they can terminate the City Manager with fewer votes and no input from the Mayor.
Vide can be found by clicking here.