Earlier this year, Monroe received a consultant’s report on why its city managers kept quitting. It detailed a highly dysfunctional local government, including a city council that didn’t grasp or didn’t respect the city manager form of government. It seems that the recommendations didn’t sink in, as Monroe just fired John D’Agostino, its current city manager, after he had been on the job for less than four months. Nice.
And from the Charlotte Observer:
“If I were a city manager, I wouldn’t touch Monroe with a 10-foot pole,” said councilman Lynn Keziah, one of D’Agostino’s supporters. “It’s embarrassing. … It didn’t make any sense.”
He said D’Agostino had been doing a very good job for the city.
Councilman Freddie Gordon said it was obvious the new majority entered the meeting with a plan to oust D’Agostino. The vote was not on the agenda, but the issue was raised by councilman Billy Jordan.
“The (new majority) wants to micromanage the city. They’re meddlers,” Gordon said. He called the vote disappointing, adding, “It puts a bad black eye on our city.”
