Roberts Supervisor John McGlennon tried Tuesday night to push fellow James City County supervisors to name Assistant County Administrator Doug Powell as acting county administrator, or at least to grant him legal signing authority in the wake of Robert Middaugh’s firing Nov. 26.
Berkeley Supervisor Mary Jones was resistant, saying the board could discuss who to appoint as acting county administrator at its Jan. 14 meeting when all board members will likely be present. Board chair Jim Kennedy, the Stonehouse representative, was absent from Tuesday’s meeting because of a death in the family.
McGlennon said he heard some board members were approaching people to ask if they would serve as the county administrator; he asked the board members if that was the case, because he had not been included in those discussions. Jones said the board’s job is to fill that role, but didn’t confirm she had approached anyone.
Tuesday’s meeting was Icenhour’s last on the board as representative of the Jamestown District. His term ends Dec. 31 and newly elected Kevin Onizuk, who beat Icenhour by 30 votes in a tight race last month, will fill his seat on the board next year.
At the end of the meeting, Icenhour took time to say his goodbyes, but not before pushing some discussion about former County Administrator Robert Middaugh, who was fired at the board’s Nov. 26 work session with no public explanation.
Trying to get to the root of the reason Middaugh’s termination wasn’t discussed in public, Icenhour asked County Attorney Leo Rogers several questions about what could put the county at risk of a lawsuit if the reasons Middaugh was fired were discussed in public.
Generally, Rogers said the county doesn’t discuss the reasons employees are fired because it could interfere with their searches for replacement jobs; that could put the county at risk of a suit.
Icenhour said he asked in closed session for a reason Middaugh was being terminated, but no reason was given. He said he was not involved in any discussion that dealt with the reasons Middaugh was being fired other than that he was being fired because the board could fire him. Icenhour said to his knowledge, there were no discussions about Middaugh’s performance.
McGlennon also reflected on Middaugh’s service, saying he had “unquestionable integrity” and he left the county with that integrity intact.
As Icenhour closed out his time on the board, he directed some comments to the current board members and to Onizuk, who was sitting in the audience.
“One of the most important things you can learn in this job is who does the work. Politicians are very apt to sit up here and say, ‘Yeah, we do it. We take the credit.’ Without that dedicated county staff up here, nothing gets done,” Icenhour said.
He continued to say the board does no meaningful work on its own.
“Just because you’re in a position of command … doesn’t mean you can command respect. You must earn it … You take care of your people, they take care of you,” Icenhour said.
