Stonecrest mayor’s time off confuses

One council member wonders why he didn’t give up all his duties.

Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary leaned on a podium as he told a shocked audience he has cancer and needed some time away.

He said the stress of the job — increased by bickering with City Council members that again left Lary on the losing end of a 4-2 vote just a few minutes before — was becoming more than he should handle. He would finally be listening to the advice of doctors and family to step back and prioritize his health, the mayor said.

“You are in good hands for a couple of months with Mayor Pro Tem George Turner,” Lary said during the Sept. 17 meeting. “He has the strength and spirit for it. I’ll still do the duties that you all elected me to do, but I can’t make these council meetings right now.”

Stonecrest Councilman Rob Turner was among those stunned, but willing to give Lary the time off he needed. “I thought that meant he was going on leave of absence totally from that position,” Turner recalled from that day.

The mayor left immediately after his speech, so he wasn’t around to answer any questions. But the next afternoon, the city’s attorney sent council members an email that put a different spin on things.

Attorney Tom Kurrie wrote that

he had been speaking with Lary about how cancer treatments would affect his abilities to attend meetings. But that was the only duty the mayor planned to relinquish.

The city council meets twice a month. But the Stonecrest charter outlines a host of other duties for the mayor, including setting the agenda for meetings, signing checks, supervising the city manager, making appointments for vacant positions and serving as the city’s ceremonial head at other meetings and events.

Turner said he was initially confused when he learned that Lary planned to still perform those roles. “If you’re going to step away, I’m thinking you need to step away completely,” he said.

Councilwoman Diane Adoma, perhaps the mayor’s biggest adversary on the council, has also raised concerns. She asked Lary to put in writing his request for a leave of absence so that members can be clear when he will or won’t be showing up to work. The mayor refused.

But the city clerk did send an email asking whether the five council members are willing to excuse any absences Lary will accumulate in the coming weeks. If he misses more than one-third of meetings over a three-month period without being excused, then the mayor will be forced to forfeit his position.

Turner said he would be willing to give Lary the OK to miss meetings, although he remains concerned about the health risks of him remaining so active.

City spokesman Adrion Bell said Lary plans to attend the council’s next meeting Wednesday to clear up misinformation that had been swirling.

Bell said he does not have the answers to questions about when Lary’s leave will begin, how long it will last or what it will entail. “That is some of the information that he will clarify,” Bell said.

Mayor Jason Lary, fighting cancer, would just be missing meetings, the council learned.