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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 19, 2005 Mike Dyal Embattled Dyal eager for hearing Berryman: City manager should step down By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Medford City Manager Mike Dyal said he’s ready to defend his record even as another former city official called for his resignation Friday. "I think the council will agree with the decisions I’ve made," he said. Former Medford mayor Lindsay Berryman said she believes Dyal should resign, echoing statements made by former city attorney Ron Doyle in a City Council meeting Thursday. "I think that it’s time for the city manager to step down," said Berryman, who served from 1999 to 2005. "He’s lost a major amount of support from his staff and the public at large. I think he’s in a weakened position and it’s not healthy for the city manager to try to lead from a position of weakness." Other former city employees contacted Friday also expressed concerns about Dyal’s leadership and urged the City Council to thoroughly review his performance. Advertisement Their comments came in response to Doyle’s demand that Dyal be fired or asked to resign. The council responded it will schedule an executive session to discuss the matter. Doyle and other retired employees filed tort claims (intents to sue) for damages against the city of Medford in recent months because they were not offered access to the same health insurance plan once they retired. On Friday, Dyal declined responding directly to Doyle’s allegations because of the pending litigation and executive session. "I’m constrained in more ways than one," he said. Dyal said he looks forward to the executive session in which his performance will be reviewed. "It’ll be a good opportunity for me to be able to explain all the decisions I’ve made," he said. He said Doyle’s presentation Thursday did not fully cover the issue. "There’s much more to come out," he said. Dyal said he had "great sympathy" for Doyle and his wife, Eva-Maria von Chamier, who has been seriously ill. "He served this city well," Dyal said. "He’s not a bad guy." City Attorney John Huttl repeatedly said Friday he could not discuss the matter further, nor could Dyal. "Essentially council directed city staff to talk about this in executive session," he said. In his presentation to the council, Doyle said he told Dyal in 2001 that failing to provide health insurance to retirees as he planned violated city and state law. Dyal responded angrily and threatened to fire him, he said. In 2002, the city stopped offering health insurance to retirees. He said Dyal’s action exposed the city to lawsuits, which would financially fall on taxpayers. Jef Faw, who resigned in 2004 as Medford’s finance director and deputy city manager to take a job as chief financial officer for Boise, Idaho, was a witness to the 2001 meeting with Dyal and Doyle. "I don’t remember the exact verbiage," he said Friday. But he recalled the confrontation. "Probably in my entire six years there I had never witnessed anything like that," he said. "They were looking daggers at each other." Cathie Davis is a Medford Water Commission board member and worked in City Hall for 30 years, retiring as deputy city manager in 2001. She said Doyle’s comments, which come on the heels of planning department complaints of bad management, should not be ignored. "The council has a responsibility to the community and to the city of Medford to take the comments that were made by the former city attorney last evening very seriously as well as the other concerns that have been raised in recent months, and examine whether or not it’s time to make a change at City Hall," she said. Medford City Councilman Skip Knight said he supports Dyal, and he doesn’t understand why Doyle waited so long to come forward. "Why didn’t he do it when he was an employee?" Knight said. "If life gives you situations you deal with them as they arise." Councilman Greg Jones, who retired as the city’s Parks and Recreation director in 2002, said the council needs to look at both sides. "We certainly owe the public a thorough review of the situation to find out what transpired," he said. "I respect Ron," he added. "I’ve known him for an awful long time; I believe he is an honorable person." He said he understands why Doyle waited to come forward, and said if he himself had a sick wife and was working at the city of Medford, he would "look long and hard" at whether he wanted to risk being fired. City department heads became "at-will" employees under Dyal, who was hired as city manager in 1998. He changed city regulations so that department supervisors could be fired without cause or notice, according to city documents obtained by the Mail Tribune. Also Thursday, Doyle accused Dyal of conducting council business outside public scrutiny by often calling council members for one-on-one conversations. Knight said he supports such conversations because it helps keep council members informed and cuts down on time spent in council meetings. "He’ll say, ‘I’d like to have three of you come down to my office,’" said Knight. "I like the way he does it." Five council members meeting together make a quorum and is considered a public meeting requiring public notice. Councilman Bob Strosser estimates the executive session on Dyal’s performance would take place in 30 to 45 days. He said personnel issues should not be aired in public, but added the council will not shy away from looking into the matter. "There’s always two sides," he said. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail Embattled Dyal eager for hearing ">[email protected] . 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