THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 8, 1996 TAG: 9605080389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
In a closed session Tuesday, a majority of the City Council criticized City Manager James B. Oliver and Mayor Paul D. Fraim for not telling them why Robert B. Smithwick was removed last month as development director.
The council agreed that Oliver and Fraim erred in not revealing to the full council sexual harassment complaints against Smithwick. Oliver investigated the complaints and transferred Smithwick from his job as department head to a new position, special assistant to the city manager, Oliver later revealed.
The council emerged from the 11th-floor conference room after two hours Tuesday with downcast eyes and grim, tired expressions.
The matter is still not resolved, several councilmen said.
Councilman Herbert M. Collins said he and several council members would continue to push for disciplinary action against Oliver.
The dispute among the council members appears to be about Oliver's and Fraim's conduct, not Smithwick's.
``It's not a question of whether Smithwick was guilty or innocent,'' Collins said. ``We are not passing judgment on Smithwick. It was how it was handled.
``The consensus was that the city manager was wrong, and that the mayor collaborated with him, and that he was wrong, too. Fraim and Oliver kept the rest of the council out of the loop.''
Councilman Paul R. Riddick called for Oliver's suspension. But he got no support from other councilmen, Riddick said afterward.
Not all council members were critical. Councilman Mason C. Andrews said before Tuesday's meeting that the transfer was an administrative matter and that he would not second-guess Fraim or Oliver.
But one upshot of the affair is that the council will be told in the future of serious allegations involving department heads, Fraim said. The mayor said he was comfortable with his action, although he accepted the council's criticism.
``I thought it was a matter of confidentiality,'' Fraim said.
The council has been in turmoil since it learned last Thursday night that several female employees had accused Smithwick of sexual harassment and that this was one of the reasons Oliver decided in April to transfer Smithwick to the office of the city manager, where he has no direct responsibility for any employees.
The council also soon learned that Oliver had consulted with Fraim, who agreed with Oliver's decision not to tell the council the entire story.
Oliver, instead, told the council that Smithwick was moving because of a desire to phase down his duties in anticipation of retirement - which Oliver said last week was true, if not the whole truth. Oliver eventually told the council the full story in a confidential letter written last Thursday, one day after Smithwick assumed his new position.
Despite the job change, Smithwick will retain his full $85,000 annual salary and many of his duties as development director, including supervising the planned MacArthur Center.
Riddick was the most vocal in his criticism of Fraim and Oliver.
``It was a cover-up,'' Riddick said. ``It was inappropriate for Paul Fraim to know and for others not to know.''
KEYWORDS: SEXUAL HARASSMENT NORFOLK CITY COUNCIL by CNB