THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 31 lines
I have heard the public outcry over the firing of Chesapeake City Manager Jim Rein, and I have to wonder where these people have been during Chesapeake's tortuous past under Mr. Rein's reign. As the man at the helm, Mr. Rein should have been fired after the city garage scandal. Even if shielded by the former administration, he certainly should have been discharged after the Republican majority assumed control of City Council.
Mr. Rein was on borrowed time and he knew it. I even saw him quoted in the paper as recognizing that he was ``on the ropes,'' given the vice mayor's voiced dissatisfaction with the city manager's job performance. Any one of us would have read the writing on the wall and pursued other employment options. I suspect Mr. Rein was simply waiting for his discharge so that he could collect his $50,000 severance package. His public opposition to the water rebate was simply the final straw in an inevitable result.
I think it is past time that the new City Council cleaned house in Chesapeake. Chesapeake is a new city with the need for new captains.
MARLENE L. BERNARDE
Chesapeake, Oct. 22, 1995 by CNB