Scottsdale mayor demands answers from city officials about her chief of staff’s suspension

PHOENIX – Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky is demanding answers from city officials about why her chief of staff was suspended.

Borowsky’s top aide, R. Lamar Whitmer, reportedly was removed from City Hall at the direction of City Manager Greg Caton on Jan. 14 and placed on non-disciplinary suspension, with pay.

City officials still haven’t said why Whitmer was suspended.

“I’m here today to demand that the city attorney disclose exactly what Mr. Whitmer violated in terms of city policy,” Borowsky said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Borowsky said she did not know what was happening when she saw two armed police officers walk into Whitmer’s office and shut the door.

“Five minutes go by, then they walked him out, escorted him out,” she said.

Scottsdale mayor accuses city manger of undercutting her agenda

Borowsky questioned Caton’s authority to discipline an employee who reports directly to her. She added that she is considering calling for the city manager’s resignation.

“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,” she said.

She said she plans to create a review committee to remove any ambiguity about the municipal power structure from the city charter.

“There’s an atmosphere of fear in the remaining staff that is widely known, and a fear, a concern that they might be pushed out as well, especially if they’re known to be working with the mayor’s office,” Borowsky said. “It’s very not only unfortunate, it’s very troubling. All the citizens of Scottsdale should be very worried about what’s going on here.”

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