The head of the Housing Authority of Clayton County was suspended Wednesday for not getting prior approval from the authority’s board to work as a paid consultant for the county.
The board voted 3-2 in two separate motions to suspend executive director Wade Starr for breach of contract. The board also declined Starr’s request to continue his $3,000-a-month county consulting job but board chairman Tonya Clarke conceded that the board at this point can’t keep Starr from the consulting job.
The dual decisions were made during a special-called meeting that drew robust discussions among the board about Starr’s three-year employment with the housing authority.
“Mr. Starr has been extremely disrespectful to this board,” said vice chair Michael Bryant who voted to suspend Starr. “He needs to understand there’s consequences for his actions.”
The suspension comes nearly a month after Starr was hired as consultant by the county commission. The controversial 3-2 decision caused dissension among the commissioners and caught commissioner chairman Jeff Turner offguard. Turner was instrumental in removing Starr from his job as county manager in 2013 when Turner was elected chairman.
Starr’s suspension from the housing authority, where he has been since his 2013 ouster from the county, is indefinite and without pay.
However, the board could wind up having to pay Starr. Housing authority attorney Joe Harris told the board Wednesday that suspending Starr would trigger the part of his employment contract that would enable him to be paid for a year as though he had been terminated. Harris cautioned that Starr may have to seek legal action in order to get paid.
“I’ll meet with my attorney and determine a course of action,” Starr told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the meeting.
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