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Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2008

Macon council delays vote on new finance director

A Macon City Council committee Monday postponed its confirmation of Tom Barber as the city's next finance director.

Following a closed meeting, Appropriations Committee members asked Mayor Robert Reichert's administration for more information on Barber's background. They declined to say publicly what they specifically wanted to see.

Afterward, Barber acknowledged the request was related to his time as interim city manager in East Point. While working there he was suspended for a week without pay after making comments about the city attorney's hair style that she found offensive.

Barber said he understands the council's interest in further investigating his background, given the experience Macon had with former Finance Director Kelly Clark. Clark was ousted from the top finance job in 2005 following a critical audit of city finances and grand jury investigation of city spending.

Council members have said her hiring could have been avoided if a more thorough background investigation had been conducted.

"That's where they're coming from," Barber said. "And I don't blame them."

When asked for more details about what council wanted to investigate, Assistant City Attorney Katherine Kalish, who was standing next to Barber, directed him not to answer.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, East Point suspended Barber for a week in March 2004 after the city's attorney accused him of racial discrimination, sexual discrimination and sexual harassment. Barber, who was interim city manager there for about a year, denied the allegations.

The attorney who complained was an black woman who wore her hair tightly curled and often in a bun, the newspaper reported. Barber admitted telling her that co-workers were making fun of her hair, according to the newspaper, and he acknowledged calling her a pit bull.

Barber told the AJC that his intention was to let the East Point attorney know people were talking about her behind her back, and the term pit bull was meant as a complimentary description of the way she did her job. Barber said no offense was meant, and the attorney was upset with him because he had interviewed a job candidate to replace her, the newspaper reported.

Barber left his position a few months later, and suggested to the Journal-Constitution that political "catfights" between East Point's elected officials had made his job difficult to bear.

Monday, nobody in Macon was suggesting Barber's confirmation would be derailed. Administration officials were planning a speedy response to the council's request for additional details. Barber, a certified public accountant with a master's degree in business administration, is working as the city's chief accountant until council members sign off on his hiring as finance chief.

"My understanding is, this incident, while noticeable, does not have an overall impact on Mr. Barber's career qualifications," said Andrew Blascovich, Reichert's spokesman and director of external affairs. "We will work with City Council to see that they realize the potential he has to help the city of Macon.

"His background and qualifications, and experience both in the public and private sectors, exceeded what the city of Macon requires, and the administration feels he is a good fit for the city with where we're at and where we need to go from here."

Councilman Tom Ellington, vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, was the first to raise questions about Barber's background Monday.

He and other members declined to say specifically what they wanted to see but said the information provided was incomplete.

"There was a gap in that report that needs to be filled," Ellington said. "I expect it will come back with a clean bill of health."