Q: I saw that the city attorney was recently fired by Josh Roman. Does it concern your organization that one person can hold that much power? --NS
A: While it is true that the contract with City Attorney Mike Marshall and his law firm was terminated by a resolution brought forth by Mr. Roman, it would be incorrect to say that one member of the Board has the ability to hire and fire Board contractors. Mr. Roman brought the resolution because he felt that Mr. Marshall did not have a professional process to deal with internal ethics complaints in his role as the Commissioners' ethics officer. This resolution was then voted on by all five Board members with 3 voting yes and 2 abstentions by Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Cunningham. Furthermore, when the floor was opened for discussion none of the commissioners gave any indication that they disagreed with the resolution, nor did they come to the defense of Mr. Marshall. In the view of this organization, the silence of the rest of the Board speaks volumes.
It is erroneous to say that one person was solely responsible for this occurrence. Resolutions are only passed through the majority voting. It is in this way that the thought that one person can control the actions of the Board is incorrect.