Carson City manager asks supervisors for opinions, work evaluation

Carson City Manager Linda Ritter has asked for confirmation of her "duties and authorities" and "discussion of any current job performance issues."

The matter is scheduled for the Board of Supervisors meeting on Thursday.

"We haven't talked about my job duties, and if there are any performance issues this is a good time to bring them up," Ritter said. "If there are any questions about duties or performance this will answer them."

Mayor Marv Teixeira asked Ritter to resign in July, citing "performance issues" but wouldn't elaborate on a specific problem.

Timing of the attempted ouster of Ritter came after she changed the work assignment of Teixeira's wife, Liz, as a way to help pay for a full-time auditor who would keep watch on employee expenditures instead of keeping the position as part time. Mrs. Teixeira was the city's community relations officer and Ritter wanted her to spend slightly more than half of her week promoting an employee health and wellness program instead of focusing exclusively on Partnership Carson City, the anti-methamphetamine coalition.

Ritter responded to the mayor's request by submitting a letter citing what she would require to resign, such as a full buyout of her contract through April 2009. She also wrote that she thought the mayor's request for her resignation had exposed the city to "serious liability."

The issue was resolved after Mrs. Teixeira resigned. Ritter and the supervisors - and attorneys - met and as a result she remained as city manager.

Mayor Teixeira has denied that his wife's job had anything to do with the request that Ritter resign. He didn't ask for the issue to be put on the agenda for Thursday; it was Ritter and Supervisor Shelly Aldean.

"If there is in fact the need for a midcourse correction, we need to know what those corrections need to be," Aldean said.

Though some of the supervisors expressed their opinions privately and didn't see the need for also having a public discussion, Aldean and Ritter herself consider the open talk about Ritter's duties and performance "healthy."

"I really think there is some benefit to expressing any concerns publicly... so we know what everyone is expecting," Aldean said. "That's only fair."

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.

If you go

What: Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting

When: 8:30 a.m. Thursday

Where: Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

In other business, the supervisors will:

• Decide whether to approve an agreement with the Boys & Girls Club of Western Nevada to build and jointly operate a gym/recreation center in the 1800 block of Russell Way.