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Mayor drops attack on manager

Commissioners say she owes the Safety Harbor official an apology.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published July 20, 2005

SAFETY HARBOR - One day after Mayor Pam Corbino stunned the commission by accusing City Manager Wayne Logan Jr. of inappropriately authorizing a payment to the state's retirement system, she said she was dropping the matter.

Corbino had leveled her accusation at the end of Monday's meeting, saying she had discovered improprieties in the city's finances.

"I am ready to terminate Mr. Logan," she said Monday.

"The city manager had authorized a check for $45,000 to pay in to his retirement account. He was authorized to approve $4,000. Anything more had to come back to the commission for final approval."

Surprised commissioners left City Hall with unanswered questions.

But at Tuesday's work session Corbino said city attorney Alan Zimmet told her by e-mail that Logan's expenditure was not out of line. Zimmet e-mailed Logan earlier Tuesday saying the same thing.

"I was caught totally by surprise," Logan said Tuesday. "The mayor is alleging that I did something improper. The city attorney verified that nothing was done improperly."

Several commissioners said Corbino owed Logan an apology, but Corbino adamantly refused.

"I'm not going to apologize for asking questions," she said.

Corbino said she wanted to revisit Logan's contract at a later date. Logan started working for the city in 1981 as a planning director. He became city manager in 2002.

[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:56:12]