Director says city board knew of past allegations
A memo detailing the investigation into a racially insensitive remark David Frasher was alleged to have made as city manager of Oregon City, Ore., was considered when the Hot Springs Board of Directors hired him in January 2016, District 4 Director Larry Williams said Wednesday.
Williams said he recalled the board discussing W. Michael Gillette’s memo prior to hiring Frasher, whose resignation as city manager was unanimously requested by the board Tuesday night after Frasher was alleged to have made a racially insensitive remark last week to a black Hot Springs School District administrator in the gated community where they both live.
Williams said he recalls reviewing the memo and asking Frasher about it during the interview process.
“His answers obviously satisfied us,” Williams said. “We voted to hire him. I don’t believe then or now that David Frasher is a racist. I know he deeply regrets the events of the last few days. The fact is if you are a public official you are always on duty.”
The Oregon City Commission authorized Gillette, a former Oregon Supreme Court justice, in August 2015 to look into a derogatory comment Frasher was alleged to have made about African-Americans to two Oregon City police officers in July of that year.
The memo, obtained by The Sentinel-Record last year through a public records request to Oregon City, said Frasher told Gillette he recounted to the officers a comment he heard while on vacation in Romania with his wife. Frasher told Gillette he took exception to the remarks made by the Romanian man, who, according to the memo, said there were no black people there because everyone had to work.
Gillette determined Frasher was
expressing the views of someone else but questioned why he would repeat them in a professional setting.
“The call is a terribly close one, but I finally come down on the side of accepting Mr. Frasher’s story, even if I do not give him much credit for understanding why, even accepting his version, he was in the wrong,” Gillette said in the memo, which characterized Frasher as “tone deaf to certain interpersonal considerations” and responding to situations “impulsively.”
The commissioners fired him in October 2015. According to a letter from the city’s mayor and city manager included with the $389,500 settlement agreement commissioners reached with Frasher last year, the incident “diminished the quality of the working relationship” between Frasher and the commission.
Williams successfully motioned to change the purpose of the executive session the board convened Tuesday night from reviewing Frasher to disciplining him, a change he told the board was needed to satisfy the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
The law allows executive sessions only for considering employment, appointment, promotion, demotion, disciplining or resignation of public officers and employees. The board deliberated for almost three hours before voting in open session to request Frasher’s resignation.
“There was only one of four things we could consider: reprimand, suspension, demotion or termination” Williams, referring to the board’s options for dealing with Frasher, said. “There weren’t any real good outcomes for him. David’s decision to resign was in the best interest of the board and the community.
“It was the most difficult session of my three and a half years on the board. I can’t tell you how bad I felt when I left City Hall (Tuesday night).”
Other city directors who were asked for comment Wednesday had not responded by presstime.
Severance
Interim City Manager Bill Burrough and City Attorney Brian Albright said Wednesday the exact amount of Frasher’s severance payout won’t be known until next week.
The severance terms of his January 2016 employment agreement provide one year of base salary, vehicle allowance, holiday and vacation accruals and one year of insurance premiums. The agreement established a $159,500 base salary, but the board approved a $170,856 salary for Frasher in 2018.
A $12,000 vehicle allowance is stipulated in the agreement, the same amount the board allocated to the city manager’s vehicle allowance line item for the current year. The agreement gives Frasher six weeks of annual paid vacation.
“We’re still working on an exact figure,” Albright said. “We have a good idea, but we’ll have to sit down with David and have him sign off on it.”
Albright said Frasher may be asked to take his severance in two payments instead of the lump sum provided for in the agreement.
“We’re contemplating doing it in two installments, one next week and the other after the first of the year,” he said.
City clarifies vote
The city issued a news release by email Wednesday, with the word “correction” in red, clarifying that the board unanimously requested Frasher’s resignation Tuesday on the motion of District 2 Director Elaine Jones. District 5 Director Karen Garcia seconded the motion.
The city originally issued a release Tuesday night stating the board unanimously accepted his resignation.