From The Decatur Daily: Animal Services Director Fired. Mayor Don Kyle terminated Decatur Animal Services Director Carol Wicks’ employment with the city Wednesday, subject to review by the City Council. Wicks’ lawyer, John Mays, said he received the hand-delivered termination letter from City Attorney Herman Marks late Wednesday. The letter, signed by Kyle, states the City Council will review the termination decision at 10 a.m. Monday. “It is not possible for the City to depend on you to do your job as required and for the good of the service, your employment with the City is terminated and you are removed from your position effective immediately,” Kyle wrote. Mays said he was disappointed, but not surprised. “I never expected any level of fairness from the mayor,” Mays said. “He made clear almost a year ago he wanted to get rid of Carol. When the City Council hears all that has gone on, I am confident they will not support the mayor.” Kyle, who did not return calls Wednesday, sent Wicks a letter with 32 separate allegations Aug. 20. Many of the allegations claimed crowding at the shelter resulted from Wicks’ mismanagement, causing animal illnesses, dirty conditions and damage to the air conditioning system. The letter also cited complaints from the public about rudeness from staff members. Another allegation claimed she “alienated the local veterinarian community” by using a spay/neuter clinic in Huntsville rather than hiring local veterinarians. Kyle also criticized Wicks for allowing volunteers too much access to the facility, for unfair treatment of a staff member and improper oversight of donations. “You have been insubordinate in your dealings with me concerning the conditions of the facility, refusing to implement my suggestions, publicizing our discussions, forwarding emails intended for you only and intentionally trying to embarrass or publicly demean me to avoid following my directives,” Kyle wrote in a letter to Wicks on Aug. 20. Kyle and Wicks had a public dispute last October, when Wicks said she could only meet a directive from Kyle on reducing the population of the shelter by killing 100 healthy, adoptable animals. A public furor followed, with stories published internationally. As of Tuesday, the 27,000-square-foot shelter had 118 cats and 67 dogs. When Wicks and Kyle clashed last year, the combined population had reached 310. Mays said he and Wicks met with Kyle and Marks for more than three hours Aug. 27. In the letter delivered Wednesday, Kyle said Wicks’ responses to the allegations were inadequate. “It is my decision that the charges stated and reviewed with you at the hearing are supported by the information I have been provided,” Kyle wrote. “I am not satisfied with your answers to the allegations.” In both Kyle’s list of allegations and his termination letter, he references minutes of a meeting of the Animal Shelter Board that he said detailed problems at the shelter. The City Clerk’s office, the repository of minutes of city boards, on Wednesday provided the most recent minutes it had received from the Animal Shelter Board. They were from a March 20, 2013, meeting that included no criticisms of Wicks. Wicks is listed as having attended that meeting and all other meetings in 2012 and 2013. Mays said another meeting of the Animal Shelter Board took place in November. He said Wicks was not notified of the meeting and did not receive minutes of the meeting. He said the board sent Kyle a letter summarizing the minutes and listing alleged failures of Wicks on Nov. 25, but Wicks first saw it Monday. Mays declined to provide the letter to The Decatur Daily until after the City Council meets Monday. Wicks did not return calls for comment Wednesday. Carla Swinney, secretary of the Animal Shelter Board, on Wednesday said there was a meeting in November. She said she prepared minutes and sent them to the chairman, veterinarian Steve Osborne. Like several other local veterinarians, Osborne provides services to animals at the shelter. His clinic received a check from the city for $6,331 on July 31, according to city records. “If the board thought there were problems at the shelter, why keep it secret?” Mays said. “It is a public record. The public deserved to know the board’s concerns, and so did Carol. Why wait almost a year to show it to her?” A month before the board meeting, Kyle told The Daily he was considering recommending that the City Council remove Wicks. “I haven’t made a decision on that yet, but I’m gathering data,” Kyle said at the time. Kyle had police escort Wicks from the animal shelter Aug. 20, after which the city changed the locks. Kyle placed her on paid administrative leave. Wicks’ annual salary is $79,000. She was hired shortly after the City Council — over Kyle’s objection — voted to expand the animal shelter and relocate it to its location at Beltline Road Southeast and Central Parkway. The new shelter opened in 2010. “The City Council wanted a greater emphasis on adoptions,” Mays said. “From the beginning, Mayor Kyle wanted a ‘catch-and-kill’ pound. Carol tried to do what the council wanted, and the mayor couldn’t accept it.” Danny Melson, who was director of the shelter before its relocation, has been acting director since Wicks’ departure. Eric Fleischauer can be reached at 256-340-2435 or eric@decaturdaily. Follow on Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 03:21:52 +0000
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