In an amazing display of bravado, Madam Mayor Moyer fired a department head after he expressed concern over something that contradicted her royal highness.
When it came time for Mr. Patmore, the director of public works, to comment on the mayor's proposal to shut down the city dock for a weekend and let between 2000 and 5000 people come to the city for a triathlon, use its resources, and swim in its waters, all for a grand total of (get this) $1 in rent, Mr. Patmore said:
The city is going to be a nightmare ... as far as street sanitation is concerned and as far as trash is concerned.
Quite right. Not to mention the city doesn't even have the necessary permit from the coast guard, which requires a 130 day advanced notice. Also not to mention that businesses downtown and on the water will lose money because nobody that is not competing in the bloody event will dare go downtown, even if they were able to.
Response from Madam Mayor Moyer: Mr. Patmore is fired.
Statement (from The Capital):
Mr. Patmore is the only department head whose contract was not renewed, Ms. Moyer said. But she said his dismissal was "unfortunate timing" and that his testimony at the meeting was not the reason for his dismissal.
"He's always been very good in bringing to me the concerns with any capital project," Ms. Moyer said. "In the hearing on the triathlon, he brought some issues before the council, some of which I happened to agree with."
Please, I beg you, make your own judgement. He was the only dept. director not to be renewed--the only stinking one! There are other department heads (read: police chief) that could stand to have way more scrutiny than ol' Patmore.
I have personally sat in on meetings where Mr. Patmore participated, including his department's annual review of it's budget, and he appeared to me as a quite capable servant.
