East Point City Manager Crandall O. Jones soon will be out of a job.
Jones released a statement late Monday saying his agreement with the city was "amiably terminated." The vote was taken during executive session at Monday's City Council meeting.
Mayor Earnestine D. Pittman said seven of the eight council members voted to terminate Jones' contract. The move, Pittman said, is effective Dec. 31, but Jones' last day will be Friday because he is taking annual leave.
"While it is difficult to part with a community of which I have grown fond and have taken stewardship, I have accomplished all that I set out to do in the city of East Point -- most importantly leaving the city in a much better condition that when I arrived," Jones said in his statement.
Jones, who could not be reached for comment Tuesday, said in the statement he is leaving the city "fully in the black."
Pittman has made no secret of her desire to see Jones go. In the past, she has accused him of mismanagement, saying he had cost the south Fulton County city money.
In an email sent Monday night to East Point residents, Pittman said Jones will receive a severance package worth $82,634.59.
"It was very amicable," she said. "I'm very happy. His going at this time is a good thing for the city. He's not a distraction now and we can move forward with the new council and move the city to where we want it to be."
She said priorities will be reducing high utility rates and positioning the city to invest in capital projects such as resurfacing streets, installing sidewalks, renovating city buildings and perhaps building a new government center.
Outgoing Councilman Steve Bennett, who also serves as mayor pro tem, voted in favor of ending Jones' contract.
"It was by mutual agreement," he said. "I think he felt it was time to move on and I think members of the council did as well."
The lone dissenter was Councilman Marcel L. Reed, who said that while he was glad to see Jones go, he was not in favor of "paying him to leave" or the size of the severance package.
Last month, Pittman and others, including several residents and state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, sued the city in part over the legality of certain aspects of the manager's contract, including the buyout provision, as well as the method by which utility rates were increased.
The lawsuit will continue unless city ordinances to increase utility rates are removed, said John Woodham, a lawyer who is representing the plaintiffs.
Jones leaving will have "a minor effect on the lawsuit," he said.
Deputy City Manager Angela D. Montgomery has been named to serve in the interim as the council begins its search for a new city manager.
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