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GREENSBORO - The city manager avoided losing his job Thursday, when council members instead decided to order him to address problems at City Hall, including lawsuits involving the Parks & Recreation Department and tension in the Fire Department.

Mitchell Johnson has 30 days to create a plan to make that happen.

The council spent about two hours privately discussing Johnson's job status, which members have been discussing openly and passionately for two weeks.

But Thursday, there was no public dialogue among the members.
When they returned to open session, members voted 7-2 to give Johnson the following directives.

He must:

* Work on issues in the Fire, Parks and Recreation and Communications departments.

* Reorganize the manager's office, which has only one assistant manager after the departure of Ben Brown, who left to become an assistant manager with Guilford County government.

* Have clear, consistent communication with the council.

* Work on his delegation skills.

* Provide an action plan within 30 days addressing how he will make these changes.

Councilwomen Mary Rakestraw and Trudy Wade voted against the list of directives.

Rakestraw made a motion to fire Johnson at the beginning of the meeting, which Wade seconded. Councilman Robbie Perkins made a motion to keep Johnson, which Councilwoman Goldie Wells seconded.

But it was Councilman Mike Barber's motion - the one outlining performance goals - that the board ultimately voted on.

After the meeting, Johnson said he appreciates the "continued support of council." Members clearly have issues they want addressed, he said.

Johnson said he agrees with them and is already working on some of them.

"I think if I were not to do that, I wouldn't be doing my job," he said.

Despite tremendous interest from the public - the live Web feed on the city's Internet site nearly crashed because it was overloaded with viewers - most council members didn't stick around after the meeting to answer questions.

Wade said members are barred from discussing anything entered into Johnson's personnel record as a result of the private discussion. Mayor Yvonne Johnson didn't return telephone calls after the meeting.

Councilwoman Sandra Anderson Groat said later in a telephone interview that giving Johnson objectives with measurable results was "a reasonable compromise" given the division among council members.

"I believe in my heart people deserve a second chance," she said. "I think that it will become apparent whether he's willing and able to do the job as required."

Barber, the only member who remained in the chambers after the meeting adjourned, said in response to questions that he couldn't provide details but he said:

* Issues in the Parks & Recreation Department involve "pending lawsuits that require further evaluation of how the department is run."

* Issues in the Fire Department, he said, concern a pending reorganization plan and "some challenges with department leadership."

* There are some "critical personnel issues" that need to be addressed immediately, but Barber said he couldn't elaborate.

* Concerns from most council members about Johnson's performance have "remarkably little" to do with the controversy surrounding former police Chief David Wray and the Greensboro Police Department.

Barber cited other problems, including poor communications, unresolved legal issues and a decision last year to raise business license fees, something the council rescinded after complaints from the business community.

Barber said he realized the public part of the meeting wasn't as "dynamic" as people had expected. That wasn't the point of the meeting, he said.

"There wasn't a great deal of fireworks," Barber said. "That's not our job. Our job is to manage."

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or margaret.banks@news-record.com