Lynchburg plans review for city manager

Listen to Detective John Romano’s 54-minute recording

Click to view the lawsuit

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Lynchburg City Council announced Tuesday it will conduct the city manager’s next performance evaluation on Sept. 8.

Mayor Joan Foster said the timing of this review, which is done annually, was not influenced by the recent lawsuit filed against the city and city manager, although that is expected to be a point of discussion.

“I’ve had conversations with my fellow council members one-on-one, and a large number of them indicated that would be an appropriate time (to discuss the situation),” Foster said.

A Lynchburg police detective filed a $500,000 civil suit against the city last week, alleging he was harassed and threatened after publicly criticizing City Manager Kimball Payne’s handling of the budget.

Detective John Romano secretly taped a meeting during which Payne told him that such actions will affect his career and “you’ll never be able to prove it didn’t.” Later in that conversation, Payne apologized and said he does not plan to “do anything” to Romano.

Payne, who is named as a co-defendant in the lawsuit along with Police Chief Parks Snead, has also publicly apologized for his behavior. The city says no disciplinary action was ever taken against Romano.

Under the circumstances, Councilman Scott Garrett said it was imperative officials address the “personnel issues” raised by the city manager’s actions.

“Obviously we wouldn’t address the civil issues, but there are personnel issues involved here,” he said.

Councilman Jeff Helgeson referred to the situation as the “800-pound gorilla in the room” and attempted to get Payne’s evaluation added to the agenda for Tuesday.

He was overruled by other members who said they did not feel prepared to proceed that day. Vice Mayor Bert Dodson dismissed the proposal as nothing but a “political charade.”

Council conducts annual performance reviews of the three employees it directly hires and oversees — the city manager, city attorney and clerk of council.

All three of those employees are scheduled to be evaluated in closed session during council’s next meeting in September.