Brookhaven council members prepare to fire city manager

The Brookhaven City Council will meet Wednesday to take the final step toward firing City Manager Marie Garrett — though the mayor won't say why.

But Mayor John Ernst, who was sworn into office Jan. 4, did tell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he made the personnel issue a top priority earlier this month. The mediation will take place at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Brookhaven City Hall, and the termination will be effective immediately following the meeting.

A Channel 2 Action News report revealed that Garrett received a base annual salary of $170,000 in 2014, making her one of the highest-paid city managers in metro Atlanta. At the time, then-Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis told the news station, "I'm glad she's here, and I'm glad we did it." (Garrett was not made available for comment in the Channel 2 story.)

The city now pays Garrett $214,000 a year, Ernst said.

“The city seeks, at all times, to honor its obligations, also the city council believes in watching the taxpayers’ money,” Ernst said in an emailed statement last week. “In an effort to reach an understanding and amicable resolution with city manager Marie Garrett, we have agreed to participate in mediation next week. Final action by council will be deferred until after the mediation.”

Ernst and council members held an emergency meeting Jan. 12 to discuss Garrett, who became the city's manager in February 2013, Ernst said; and Garrett has been on suspension with pay since that meeting.

On Jan. 13, the council unanimously voted to move forward with mediation, Ernst said.

The council members, by charter, are required to meet twice before terminating a city employee.

Brookhaven Distrit 2 Councilman John Park declined to comment on Garrett’s pending termination, but in a Facebook post to his constituents he described the conflict as an “impasse in negotiations.”