County Manager Rhonda Poston O'Connor was terminated last night by a 3-2 majority of the board of commissioners, in their regular meeting. Cause for termination was failure to properly notify the board of commissioners of a $5M shortfall in the county budget. "She submitted an unbalanced budget, and did not bother to tell us" commissioner Dave Richard said...
County Manager Rhonda Poston O'Connor was terminated last night by a 3-2 majority of the board of commissioners, in their regular meeting. Cause for termination was failure to properly notify the board of commissioners of a $5M shortfall in the county budget. "She submitted an unbalanced budget, and did not bother to tell us" commissioner Dave Richard said.
The issue is further exacerbated by the fact that the overall county revenues are currently running at an $8.9M shortfall, making the budget unbalanced by nearly $13.9M. "Thats nearly 15% of the total budget" Richard said.
Commissioners Harrell and Laughinghouse both defended O'Connor, noting that she was not the author of the budget, and was acting without the benefit of a deputy county manager or a CFO at the time. "It was a single line item on a 140+ page document" Commissioner Harrell said.
No official cause was stated in the meeting. Sources tell cumminghome.com that the root issue was personality conflicts - not the budget issue.
O"Connor received an ovation from the audience as she left the meeting immediately after the decision.
According to the terms of her employment contract, O'Connor will receive a full year's salary and other benefits, the balance of which will need to paid back to the county if she is re-hired. Commissioners Laughinghouse and Harrell have hinted that they might attempt to hire her back in January if a majority of the new board of commissioners supports the idea. When asked if she would consider re-employment in January, O'Connor responded "Absolutely".