Our number two story of the year is city council's decision to relieve Jim Puffalt of his duties as city manager.
After a dozen years on the job, Puffalt was let go on Oct. 8 when the members of city council decided that they would like to move in a different direction.
In making the somewhat surprising announcement, Mayor Roy Ludwig said there was no dominant reason behind Puffalt's dismissal but more a general sense that a fresh face was needed in the City's top administrative position.
"With the new council, there comes a different perspective on how they feel the City should be run and what direction that we should be taking," Ludwig said. "Lately they just felt that they wanted to move in a new direction so (Oct. 8) Jim was notified."
Puffalt had been the City manager since 2001 when he replaced Marcel Hoste.
Throughout his tenure Puffalt was a controversial figure at City Hall as the person tasked with carrying out the decisions of council but also for the manner in which he carried out those directives.
Although he was directly involved in successful projects such as the construction of Spectra Place, Puffalt was disliked by many residents who painted him as the face of such controversial issues such as garbage collection.
"The city manager is a lightning rod, good, bad or indifferent, as is the mayor," Ludwig said. "Council's decisions rest on the shoulders of the mayor and, to a certain degree, on the city manager. One of the hard issues that the city manager always has to deal with is he's given direction from council and he may not approve of it himself. But in that role you have a job to do and you carry it out.
"In some cases it's not a popular job because you are giving direction over the workforce and that is not always an easy job."
City treasurer Jeff Ward was named the interim manager and continues to hold both roles as 2013 comes to a close.
The search for Puffalt's replacement began shortly after his firing and it's expected that a new city manager will be selected early in 2014.
