Mayor Ashton Hayward told WEAR TV that he misspoke about his former Chief Operations Officer’s education. Employees have come forward and said the COO talked about having a Masters. Other media are questioning whether outside influences forced Fountain out of city hall.
On WEAR tonight, Mayor Hayward appeared to be taking the blame for the confusion over his COO’s education and qualifications.
He said, “It’s impossible to know everybody’s degree at city hall. You know, Eric (Olson) has a Masters, Vern (Stewart) has a Masters. You can’t keep track of 800-plus employees’ resumes. She was doing a great job for the city of Pensacola.” See interview.
Meanwhile several city employees spoke with Inweekly today. They said Fountain made several references to having a MBA. It wasn’t unusual for her to complain that certain tasks were beneath her because she had a Masters. (Inweekly, News Journal and WEAR TV have found out that Fountain did not have a Masters.)
In a column published Monday evening, Randy Hammer of the Studer Community Institute asked about attorney Bob Kerrigan’s role in Fountain’s ouster. He writes that Fountain complained that Kerrigan was sabotaging her. Read Did Bob Kerrigan run off Tamara Fountain?