Ritter could leave job as city manager

The Carson City Manager could leave her position next week.

Representatives from the city and Linda Ritter are in negotiations to reassign her to a new staff position, officials have said.

The board of supervisors could approve the decision at their Thursday meeting. The new position has not been announced, but the meeting agenda has to be released by Monday morning.

Supervisor Pete Livermore said Ritter's reassignment would be "best for the organization," and that he would vote for it.

Supervisor Robin Williamson said she had not seen all the details of the agreement and had no comment.

"Hopefully we can work something out, that's all I can say," Ritter said in early January in response to a question about negotiations over her resignation.

She missed her annual job review Jan. 3 because she was sick. She could not be reached for comment Thursday.

When asked after the January meeting if any board members wanted Ritter to resign, Williamson said "hard feelings appear to remain" from some of the other supervisors.

The relationship between some supervisors and Ritter has been tense for months. Mayor Marv Teixeira asked her to resign in July citing "performance issues" without naming a specific problem.

Ritter had recently changed the job duties of the mayor's wife, Liz Teixeira, who later resigned from her position as the city's community relations officer.

Teixeira said his request to Ritter had nothing to do with his wife.

Teixeira, Livermore and Supervisor Richard Staub have criticized Ritter's performance in the past few months, saying at board meetings that Ritter needed to give them better reports about the city's finances.

Staub and Teixeira declined to comment for this article.

• Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.

Background

Carson City Manager Linda Ritter was hired in 2003. Her contract runs through April 2009 and she has received positive job reviews, though three supervisors have criticized her performance in the past few months.

The board hired a financial consultant, Mary Walker, Dec. 6 to work with Ritter on financial projections for the city. Walker told supervisors Jan. 17 the city would be bankrupt in a year and a half if it didn't make budget cuts and other adjustments. She has since said the city is acting quickly and should be fine.

Supervisor Robin Williamson and Supervisor Shelly Aldean have praised Ritter's work.

Supervisor Richard Staub asked in November that a new section should be added to the city manager's contract.

The section called for "the highest level of personal and professional conduct" and said the position should not do anything "deemed to be offensive, dishonest, disreputable, demeaning, degrading, immoral or unethical."

"I am unsure what is driving Richard's insistence to add this vague language," Ritter said in a Nov. 14 e-mail to District Attorney Neil Rombardo and Chief Deputy District Attorney Melanie Bruketta.

The section was never adopted.

On Dec. 6, the board rejected a proposal from Aldean to have Ritter's job review include opinions from others, including citizens and city employees.

Aldean could not be reached for comment Thursday.