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2/7/07

 

City attorney said he' left his post to spend more time with his family and his church, where he serves as a pastor

By ROBERT PLAIN
for the Mail Tribune

 

ASHLAND — City Attorney Mike Franell's resignation came on the day the Ashland City Council was scheduled to hold a meeting about his job performance.

"There was no reason to have the evaluation because Mike had already resigned," said City Administrator Martha Bennett.

The council planned an executive session to evaluate his performance on Wednesday night. The meeting was canceled when Franell announced he was leaving his job.

City officials would not talk about Franell's evaluation process, or the reasons for his resignation, citing personnel issues. A new contract he signed with the city since he decided to resign prevents those familiar with the situation from discussing it.

"We have a new agreement with Mike but the terms are confidential," Bennett said.

Franell said he decided to leave his post as Ashland's legal counsel to spend more time with his family and Lozier Lane Baptist Church in Medford, where he is a pastor.

"The community has become a little more aggressive and little more litigious," he said. "It became difficult managing all three aspects of my life."

He acknowledged making "mistakes in the past" and attributed those errors to the workload of the job.

"The demands of the job are getting to the point that I had to make a decision one way or another," he said.

He knew there would be speculation of his resignation being forced.

"Of course there is going to be a lot of political talk out there," he said on Friday. "I have my supporters and my detractors in the community. The struggles the city has in the political realm definitely adds to the workload, but I don't think that pushed me out."

He said there has been one City Council member critical of his performance during previous reviews.

"I assume that would have continued," he said, declining to identify the council member.

Two Ashland political activists, Art Bullock and Ralph Temple, submitted negative reports to the City Council to coincide with Franell's review.

Bullock complained that Franell was not responsive to community concerns, writing, "Ashland needs a city attorney who operates in the public interest, with a strong orientation to Ashland's community character."

Temple complained that Franell withheld information from the public about a watch list of names and photos of people Ashland police identified as local troublemakers. District Attorney Mark Huddleston ruled the city had to turn over additional documents about the watch list.

Franell said he enjoyed being the city attorney for Ashland, calling it a "tremendously intellectually challenging job." He was the city manager and city attorney in Ontario before coming to Ashland in 2003. He said he would consider becoming a government attorney if a position came up in another Jackson County community, and is also considering going into private practice locally.

Robert Plain is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach him at 482-3456 x. 226 or bplain@dailytidings.com.