City attorney responsible for Sullard’s leave

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 | 9:44 a.m.

Boulder City Attorney Dave Olsen took responsibility Tuesday for ousted City Manager John Sullard taking paid administrative leave during his last month on the job.

Olsen said last week that he wasn't sure who decided Sullard should be placed on administrative leave following the council's Jan. 27 vote to end Sullard's term as city manager.

But Olsen said during the City Council meeting Tuesday that he wrote Sullard a letter informing him he was on administrative leave after speaking to Mayor Bob Ferraro, who did not want Sullard at City Hall anymore.

"Was it my fault? Probably so. But the overall objective was achieved," Olsen said.

Olsen said he spoke to Sullard about the mayor's wishes and Sullard said he thought the other council members would be OK with him being placed on administrative leave.

"I'm still not exactly sure where the direction came from," Olsen said Tuesday. "I was trying to facilitate what I thought would make everyone happy."

Ferraro said he didn't direct Olsen or anyone else to place Sullard on administrative leave, but thinks his conversations with Olsen were misinterpreted.

"But the end result is what we were looking for," Ferraro said.

Councilman Mike Pacini agreed. "Dave saw a potentially bad situation and defused it."

Olsen said having Sullard on administrative leave meant a smoother exit audit, which is being done to ensure Sullard has returned any city equipment he's used and that all other equipment is accounted for. The audit was part of the separation agreement the council approved last month and was suggested by Sullard so he could leave with a clean slate, Olsen has said.

Olsen and Pacini also said that if Sullard wasn't placed on administrative leave before, he would have been at the Tuesday meeting when the council unanimously appointed City Clerk Vicki Mayes the acting city manager.

Mayes will be paid Sullard's salary, which she said is about $600 a week more than her salary as City Clerk. Also, her monthly car allowance was increased to $450. It was $375 a month, she said.

Under the terms of Sullard's "separation agreement," Sullard will receive $88,284 in severance pay, equal to six months of his salary and unused vacation time. His last day on the job was supposed to be Feb. 26.

Sullard was pushed out of the job he held for more than six years by a council that said he had lost the confidence of the community and did a poor job of overseeing the city-owned Boulder Creek Golf Club.

The council also decided they will use city staff to search for a new city manager, and will have a special citizens committee help decide who the city's next top administrator will be.