The city of Scottsdale and its manager are being accused of wrongful termination by the mayor’s former chief of staff.
Mayor Lisa Borowsky’s former chief of staff, R. Lamar Whitmer alleged in a claim filed on Thursday that City Manager Greg Caton engineered a plot to secure Whitmer’s firing. Whitmer claimed he was fired for political purposes against the mayor’s wishes.
Whitmer’s attorney, Dennis Wilenchik with Wilenchik & Bartness, announced they would be filing a special action regarding Whitmer’s termination.
This is the latest development in what locals have dubbed “Whitmergate.” Last month the city issued a 19-page report detailing the outcome of an investigation into Whitmer’s conduct. City officials interviewed 16 individuals as witnesses to Whitmer’s conduct; only one name was left unredacted, city clerk Ben Lane.
The report accused Whitmer of committing unprofessional and offensive behavior, to include violating city rules on engaging in political activity. Whitmer was affiliated with the Alliance for Scottsdale’s Future, which took out ad pages in the Scottsdale Progress criticizing Scottsdale City Council members Barry Graham, Adam Kwasman, and Jan Dubauskas.
Thursday’s notice alleged that the report — shared with media by the city and Caton — was “predetermined,” defamatory, false, and ultimately “humiliate[d] and embarrass[ed]” Whitmer.
“It is clear the outcome was predetermined and that it was based on personal animus Mr. Caton had and differences with Mr. Whitmer that were not substantial or even justifiable,” said the notice. “It was an attempt to place extremely minor matters as somehow important and/or to simply misstate facts and evidence for a predetermined outcome to remove Mr. Whitmer.”
One unnamed witness claimed the mayor had reprimanded Whitmer before for unprofessional and inappropriate comments.
Mayor Borowsky responded to the firing of her chief of staff with a statement denying that she ever bore witness to any of the alleged behaviors by Whitmer. Borowksy confirmed her commitment to city rules and standards for staff.
“To be clear, I do not condone inappropriate workplace conversations, did not witness them, and would not tolerate them,” said Borowsky. “The people deserve to move past petty politics and move forward in a manner befitting the history and expectations of the city of Scottsdale.”
The city placed Whitmer on paid non-disciplinary leave in January, just three months after his hiring last October. The notice of claim alleged city staff “‘perp’ walked” Whitmer in a “shockingly crude” manner out of city hall.
Shortly after that incident, Mayor Borowsky held a press conference demanding the city attorney explain Whitmer’s publicized removal from city hall. Borowsky accused Caton of overstepping his authority for political gain, and instilling “an atmosphere of fear” among staff that appeared to be allied with her instead of Caton.
“Caton has consistently undercut my agenda, an agenda that the voters of Scottsdale chose and approved through their duly recognized and certified election of me as their mayor,” said Borowsky at the time. “It’s not only very unfortunate, it’s very troubling. All the citizens of Scottsdale should be very worried about what’s going on here.”
Whitmer is seeking $1.5 million settlement from the city.
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