Council to Begin Retreat Session Today

City Council members beginning today will meet at a retreat, where they are expected to make a decision on the fate of City Manager Tom Frutchey and address other city business.

The retreat, from noon to 5 p.m. today, continues at the River Ridge Golf Course clubhouse from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

With newly elected Councilman John Zaragoza on board, the retreat--the first in two years--gives the entire council a chance to discuss and work on divisive issues.

Zaragoza has sided with Mayor Manuel Lopez on several issues, causing a change in the direction and debate from the former council.

“People used to joke that it was a 4-to-1 council,” said Lopez, who frequently saw himself as the lone vote on controversial issues, such as elimination of the Planning Commission.

Now, Lopez said, debating issues “makes it a little harder to work but I think it’s better. That is the way the system is designed to work.”

The council expects to discuss the role of citizens’ advisory groups, which have complained that their input has been ignored by city staff and have significantly decreased their influence on city policy.

But the first and perhaps most pressing issue on the agenda is to review Frutchey’s job performance and discuss his employment contract.

Frutchey’s contract expired in October but the council decided to hold off on contract decisions until after the November election.

Since December, the debate about the embattled city manager has divided the council. Councilmen Dean Maulhardt and Tom Holden have stated their support for Frutchey while Lopez and Zaragoza have come out against him. Councilman Bedford Pinkard has not stated his position publicly.

“I guess in the last couple of months with this issue of the city manager there has been some tension,” Maulhardt said. “We need to put this thing to rest and move forward.”