Adolfae fired from City Hall job

One of City Hall’s longest-serving administrators was forced out by Mayor Dennis Hession last week over disagreements over the running of the Community Development Department.

Mike Adolfae, who worked for the city for 32 years, including the past 26 as community development director, remains on the city’s payroll as he eats up remaining leave time. Hession said he and Adolfae had discussed the departure over the past few weeks and decided his last day would be April 20.

The vacancy is the latest in a string of openings in several high-profile slots at City Hall.

This week, the city’s engineering services director, Tom Arnold, announced he would leave to take a different job. That leaves seven vacancies in key management positions, including positions overseeing public works, human resources and planning.

Some City Council members say it might be difficult to find qualified candidates for so many jobs during an election year – since the boss could be tossed by voters.

“We’ve lost so much institutional knowledge in the last year,” said City Councilman Al French, who is challenging Hession in the mayoral race. “It’s almost as if the building is on fire.”

Hession said the openings cause challenges but will allow the city to bring in people with new and creative ideas. He said he doubts the mayor’s race will dissuade many people from applying and pointed to his hiring last year of new leaders of the Police Department and city attorney’s office as proof that qualified people will apply.

The mayor, speaking from Washington, D.C., where he and other officials are meeting with lawmakers, said national searches are under way and that new people could be filling some of the jobs – including public works – within two months.

Adolfae started work for the city in the Planning Department, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist. As community development director, he oversaw the handling of federal and state money aimed at improving low-income neighborhoods.

John Downes, vice chairman of the city’s community development board, said he disagreed with the firing and called Adolfae a “wonderful administrator.”

” ‘Shock’ and ‘dismay’ are the two words to describe my personal feeling,” Downes said, adding that those are the same two words he would use to describe feelings of people who worked under Adolfae.

Hession said Adolfae was not fired over any specific incident but that he needed to find a leader willing to implement the administration’s vision.

“His focus was more on treating the symptoms (of poverty) and not finding solutions,” Hession said. “We think that there are just opportunities to be more progressive.”

Hession said he favors focusing more on programs such as job training and less on providing subsidies.

The mayor said he plans to appoint a committee to examine ways to improve community development.

“We face an opportunity to make a greater impact on poverty,” Hession wrote in a letter to neighborhood leaders.

But Downes said he’s concerned that the mayor’s vision of community development is about shifting money to economic development projects that could benefit developers but endanger money earmarked for social services and neighborhood improvements such as housing rehabilitation, sidewalk repair and park improvements.

Councilwoman Mary Verner, who also is running for mayor, said she wants a better explanation of the administration’s community development strategy.

“I’m concerned because the neighborhoods are concerned,” Verner said, adding that she believes Adolfae’s strategy has been effective.

Attempts to reach Adolfae, who earned $85,295 a year, were unsuccessful Wednesday.

Community development planner Allen Schmelzer is leading the department in Adolfae’s absence.