Highland » Mayor Jay Franson headed off a confrontation between the incoming administration and City Administrator Barry Edwards: He cancelled Edwards' contract Tuesday night.
Edwards, who has been this northern Utah County city's administrator for the past 11 years, will officially leave Jan. 4, when Lynn Ritchie takes the oath of office. Franson said he wanted to give Ritchie and the new council a clean start.
"This way, they can concentrate on city problems, and not the hassle of removing Mr . Edwards," said Franson, who praised Edwards for his years of service to the city.
The council vote was unanimous, and Edwards said that it was something he was comfortable with.
"I am grateful the City Council did that," Edwards said after the meeting.
For Councilman-elect Scott Smith, the action makes the transition for the new council easier. Smith said a majority of the incoming council was prepared to fire Edwards, and he was there Tuesday night to protest if Franson had renewed the contract with Edwards.
"We had a number of citizens tell us they wanted us to hire a new administrator," Smith said. While Edwards had done good things for the city, Smith said, there was also sense in the public that Edwards was too heavy-handed in enforcing city ordinances and policies, and that his administration was not as transparent as it should have been.
Councilman-elect Tom Butler would not speculate on what he would have done in January if Edwards had not been terminated. He stressed that he thought Edwards had done both good and bad things in his tenure. But he was concerned about Edwards' severance package. In addition to getting his accrued sick and vacation time, Edwards also gets four months' pay -- approximately $39,000. With the other leave factored in, Butler said it was like getting seven months' wages.
"Nobody gets that kind of severance package in this economy," Butler said.
Franson said Edwards was in a difficult position of having to enforce city ordinances and policies as directed, even if he didn't agree with them personally. But he said the increase in property values and the city's growth were testament to Edwards' good management style.
