A bright spot of last night’s council meeting was the Pensacola City Council’s approval a contract with ECUA for the processing of recyclables.
Mayoral candidate Drew Buchanan praised the vote and blasted City Administrator Eric Olson on his decision to hide the city wasn’t recycling for more than six months.
His announcement:
“For the past nine months, City Hall has been sending our recyclables to the landfill. I am proud of my campaign’s role in exposing City Hall’s cover-up of that fact, and I applaud the City Council for taking action tonight to resume recycling.
“But I remain appalled, embarrassed, and deeply disappointed by the decision of City Administrator Eric Olson to lie to the public for more than six months.
“Good government is not hard. It is based on a few simple principles, including honesty, transparency, and accountability. The citizens deserve nothing less. Choosing to lie to the citizens you are supposed to serve is completely unacceptable, and that’s why I’m calling on Mayor Ashton Hayward to immediately terminate Eric Olson as City Administrator.
“As mayor, I will have zero tolerance for this sort of deception and malfeasance. I trust that Mayor Hayward shares those values and will take the necessary steps to restore citizens’ trust in City Hall.â€
The City Charter puts Mayor Hayward in charge of the administrative services of the city government. The buck stops with him. City Administrator Olson serves at the pleasure of Hayward. If Hayward was displeased with Olson, he would have fired him long ago. Hayward is pleased with what Olson does which is why Olson still has his job at least for a few months. The next mayor has the power to clean house in city hall and should starting with Olson who should be fired on November 27 if he has not already resigned. Olson is reportedly looking for a job so perhaps the problem will solve itself. The real problem is Hayward. The city needs to shift into a defensive mode and protect itself against Hayward for the next few months. We now that he has violated multiple provisions of state and city law. It will be interesting to see if Hayward tries to “pardon” himself before leaving office. Kudos to Buchanan for speaking up. Where’s Grover?
Good for you Drew. But your pledge should be from Olson right on down the line. Barker, Sisson, and some of your other department heads, including the Police. The Fire Dept. is now better and healing, thank you. We need honest leaders with good morale character, integrity, and are genuine. You need to get outside the lines if you want a chance. Do your homework.