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Morro Bay council stalls Lueker’s exit

November 20, 2013

Andrea LuekerThe Morro Bay City Council canceled a closed session meeting on the possible termination of City Manager Andrea Lueker just prior to the beginning of the hearing Tuesday. [Tribune]

Mayor Jamie Irons said proper noticing of the meeting occurred, but the council was not ready to take any action. He did not elaborate on the status of Lueker’s employment.

Last week, the council voted to instruct special counsel Steven Simas to negotiate a termination agreement with Lueker. At the same meeting, the council approved a severance package of $163,235 for Rob Schultz, who left his position as city attorney Friday.

The council majority, led by Irons, had been pushing to fire both Lueker and Schultz since September, but the agreement with Schultz allowed him to resign.

 

 


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Heres a little fodder for some of you to wonder over.

Rumor mill has it that the reason that iron wanted to fire our two top city employees is that his best buddy got removed from some little committie when he couldn’t make the meetings because of a conflict with school sports so this is payback to those that did this.

The other thing to bite on is that the Indians that go sit on top of Morro Rock and smoke dope want to put a gaming casino on the same 12 acres that some one wants to put a sewer plant on,how grand would that be,not a nickle to the city would that bring, and we get the Vegas influence here to boot.


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Well at least you labeled your information as rumors up front. Still, why bother to mention them unless their is more to go on than “rumors.” They sound more like malicious speculations to me without some evidence to back them up.


BTW, I don’t live in MB and the politics there doesn’t affect me in the least — I just dislike people using baseless flights of fancy to support one side or the other in any discussion.


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The person taken off the Planning Commission was John Diodoti. That’s not a rumor, it’s a fact.


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Have you bothered to read the posts here that aren’t labled as rumors that smear people? Perhaps you need to address those folks and their use of “baseless flights of fancy.”


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I’ve held off commenting, since my last comments mysteriously disappeared – perhaps my words were probably too strong and too accurate to handle. I need to point out and perhaps I am the only one that has noticed, that Schultz got exactly what he was entitled to (and more) in his severance agreement. That speaks, in and of itself, significantly about what this is really about. Sad, sad times for the City of Morro Bay. On top of a mess of a waster water treatment plant, Dynegy closing, no attorney and likely not city manager (and who the heck is going to work with this group), we’re on a fast road to “you know where”.


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Will Rogers NEVER met the Mayor.


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Most likely, the lawyers just haven’t finished negotiating the details of the severance agreement. If you recall, the first meeting on Schultz’s agreement produced no outcome other than to send the lawyers back to continue the negotiations. It was at the second meeting that the agreement was accepted and the termination was finalized.


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Rob Schultz wasn’t terminated. He resigned and got his full severance package. No outside attorney was needed for that deal. This mayor is in way over his head. Sign the recall petition.


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That is partly, but not completely true – part of the deal in the agreement was that the termination would be treated as a resignation. It makes it easier for a person to get jobs in the future than having an involuntary termination on record. The fact remains, however, that the Council voted to end his employment with the City.


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Really? Do you think that when a new entity is looking to hire Schultz that they will not be aware of this?


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No, nothing in severance agreements say termiations are “treated as a resignation.” It is a contract with the consideration being the granting of financial compensation and benefits in return for a resignation and a promise not to file legal actions in regard to the termination as well as a promise to keep all records, conversations and knowledge of city business and practices confidental. There is nothing “treating” anything one way or another.


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Your probably right. I was just hoping that one of them would find it in their heart to give her another chance. She seems like a nice person.


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Although she IS a nice lady, that’s no reason to give her “another chance”. The people who need another chance are these yahoos who want to get rid of a hard-working, honest, ethical employee who is extremely dedicated to Morro Bay and wants the best for the city. It’s because Irons can’t handle any divergent opinions that she is being run out of town.


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If you are correct, it further shows what an amateur Irons is. Why call the special meeting if you have nothing to meet about?


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Did Smuckler or Johnson just blink? Maybe one of them got some fresh air and woke up.


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They just probably needed a reminder from the boss on what the meeting was about and how they should vote.


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No, you have the current Council majority, which is made up of decent, honest, ethical people, confused with past Council majorities. Those past Council majorities were clearly ruled by the local moneyed special interest group That was obvious from all the special favors that were done for that group – favors that cost this town a great deal of money. One example was cutting the building impact fees, forcing Morro Bay residents to subsidize small number of special interest group members.


Things have changed now. The back room deals have ended. It will obviously take some people a while to get used to the fact that, at last, we have an honest Council majority working in the best interests ALL of the residents.


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Decent? Honest? Ethical? I can’t believe you!!!! Sure, it’s decent and ethical to remove 2 long-term employees for no reason (there’s that “without cause” designation again!), and in the process try to ruin their careers by initially implying that there was cause to remove them. Also, you STILL don’t get the point that it’s not the Morro Bay employees that dictate council direction; the council directs (or at least, is supposed to direct) the employees. So Irons is spending a boatload of money getting rid of two employees for absolutely no reason, except that he wants “yes men” in his employ to do his bidding. Then, if something goes amiss, he can blame his underlings for not giving him the correct information. MBact, I’d advise you to get a clue to what’s going on, but I know that’s never going to happen…….


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If you are calling people that provide jobs, are interested in the growth of business in the community, and volunteer endless hours and cash to causes that are important to the city “the local moneyed special interest group” your comments may be accurate, but, it sounds like petty jealousy to me.


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If you want business in towns you have to do things to encourage their investment. Have you seen how many vacant storefronts that there are on the Embarcadero, Morro Bay Blvd and Main St? We don’t need anymore second hand stores, tattoo parlors or real estate offices. The City of Morro Bay has long been a joke about being difficult to work with in order to open a business and it is because of the No Growth “Special Interests.” Cathy Novak makes a living helping prospective businesses to open or expand in Morro Bay because of the ridiculous regulations and political factions that sue over everything. It is a joke that a business owner need to hire a former Mayor as a consultant to navigate the process and political interests of “Activists.”


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I do remember the previous council. It was always interesting to watch Yates wake up George when it came time to vote, and then toss him a peanut afterwards.


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Maybe their attorney, Steve Simas, was on vacation with the money they’ve already paid him and was unavailable. Jamie Irons needs to go. Sign the recall petition.


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Doubtful


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I suppose that Irons is enjoying having the City Manager twist slowly in the wind as he decides his next diabolical step……


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The Council Majority’s backdoor polling indicated that they did not have three votes?


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