The head of the Housing Authority of Clayton County was suspended Wednesday for failing to get 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. Starr’s housing authorty employment contract states he must get board approval before taking outside jobs. 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 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." Bryant said Starr spent a year and a half campaigning for county commission chairman during work hours. Incumbent chairman Jeff Turner won the seat in the May 24 primary.
The suspension comes nearly a month after Starr was hired as a consultant by the county commission. The controversial 3-2 decision caused dissension among the commissioners and caught Turner off guard. Turner was instrumental in removing Starr from his job as county manager in 2013 when Turner was first 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 could trigger the part of his employment contract that would enable him to be paid for a year as though he had been terminated. Starr earns $77,000 a year as executive director of the housing authority. Harris said Starr may have to seek legal action in order to get paid.
On Friday, Starr sent an email to county commissioners asking them to remove housing authority board members Michael Bryant, James Fambrough and Karen Linnear who voted to suspend him. Starr accused them of “purposely ignoring the law and the contract, neglecting their duties and misconduct in office.”
The housing authority board has set another called meeting for Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the housing authority office, 732 Main Street in Forest Park to further discuss Starr’s case.
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