BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The Bridgeport City Council has voted to remove their city manager less than six months into his tenure.
The council voted to remove Pat Ford from the city manager position in a 5-1 vote as part of a special meeting hosted on Thursday. The decision was made amidst numerous city employees who were on hand to voice their support for Ford with issues related to unapproved costs for an investigation funded by the city as a factor in the decision, as well as issues ranging from confidentiality violations to the approaches to engineering contracts.
“And I am too with (City Councilor) Mr. Burton, and others, that our ultimate goal and our ultimate duty is to protect the city and protect the staff,” said Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang ahead of his vote to remove Ford from the position. “We have a great staff here and that is what my goal here is to do.”
The decision to remove Ford stems from what Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang stated as multiple factors during Thursday’s meeting. This included issues that varied from city employees leaving since he’s taken the position and aspects towards how he approached recommending engineering firms for city projects. That’s also separate from Ford allegedly allowing an investigation over potential litigation involving a former city employee to go up to $70,000 despite the council only approving a $25,000 allocation. Added with recent attorney-client privileges related to the litigation allegedly violated by Ford by posting about what was being investigated on social media, the Bridgeport City Council found the decision hard, but an easy one to make.
“This investigation, which was confidential until Mr. Ford disclosed its existence, council did ultimately give approval, with a budget not to exceed $25,000,” said Lang. “Mr. Ford allowed the cost to escalate beyond $70,000 already without informing the council.”
Bridgeport City Councilor Jason Campbell was the only member on the council to vote against removing Ford, with the upcoming municipal election being one of the motivating factors.
Ford was allowed to speak for five minutes after the rest of the council addressed their thoughts on the situation, where he stated that all of the decisions made regarding the internal investigation were approved and made aware by the council. During his speech, he added that the contracts to hire legal firm Flanney Georgalis, particularly Partner-in-Charge William Ihlenfeld, were approved not only for the initial $25,000 that was openly confirmed to be allocated by the Bridgeport City Council, but that the investigation team spoke with the council in executive sessions where they allegedly okayed the budget for the work to be expanded (a statement only confirmed by Campbell during the meeting). With a multi-page document he claimed showed he followed all protocols related to the investigation process, Ford expressed a desire to stay in the position.
“The mayor and city council charged me with eliminating the drama in the office,” said Ford during his time to speak during the meeting. “In getting to the roots of the drama in the office, I pierced the veil of a culture of the business in the City of Bridgeport, and only William ‘Bill’ Ihlenfeld could investigate and navigate these waters.”
The removal of Ford from the Bridgeport City Manager position was made despite a large number of city employees openly expressing support to keep him on. The frustration of the decision was not only shown by the over two dozen employees who attended the meeting but also through the signatures of 73 city employees who put their names on petitions calling for Ford to stay put, among them being Bridgeport Police Chief Mark Rogers and Fire Chief Phil Hart (a number openly disputed by Bridgeport City Recorder Hank Murray). Despite the support, the Bridgeport City Council appeared ready to move forward with removing Ford from the Bridgeport City Manager post.
“I want to thank all of the city employees who have remained with us through the challenging time,” said Councilor Clayton Rice. “I commit to them that I will work, and the city council will work tirelessly to repair the damage.”