At its meeting Monday, the Fayetteville City Council voted 8-2 to authorize City Manager Doug Hewett to agree to a settlement with former Fayetteville Police Chief Gina Hawkins, who in August threatened to sue the city over claims of a hostile work environment, including alleged racist and sexist treatment.
The exact terms of the settlement have yet to be made public. In signing the release, the city would terminate any legal liability in the case.
Councilmembers Mario Benavente and Deno Hondros voted against the motion to authorize the settlement, which was made by Councilmember Courtney Banks-McLaughlin and seconded by Councilmember Derrick Thompson.
“I think it was the right thing to do,” Councilmember Kathy Jensen, who voted for the motion, told CityView after the meeting.
The vote came unexpectedly, as the council decided to add the question of the settlement to the agenda at the start of the meeting.
As of Monday night, the exact settlement amount was unclear, as were any additional details, as CityView was not allowed access to the settlement. Assistant City Manager Kelly Olivera and Marketing and Communications Director Loren Bymer said that was for legal reasons, since the settlement was still in draft form and had not yet been audited by Jody Picarella, the city’s chief financial officer.
That didn’t stop the council from making a vote, however.
Benavente and Hondros — who often cast dissenting votes together — were cautious about discussing their opposition in plain terms.
“Council voted in consensus to support it,” Hondros told CityView after the meeting. “For me, there was a little more information I would like. But we do everything together, so together, we voted in consensus.”
Benavente said the city needed to be more “wary” of people coming to the city requesting financial remuneration or compensatory damages.
“My biggest concern is simply that our city is rolling over when it comes to certain folks that are seeking a payday,” Benavente told CityView after the meeting. “And it's something that we need to be careful about, because there are some things that are worth fighting for.”
Bymer said the city had not prepared the documents necessary to disclose the settlement to the public at the meeting’s end, though it had originally planned to.
“So it was anticipated that it would be ready and audited when we finished this and went upstairs, and it wasn't,” Bymer said. “And so the document needed to be finalized so that it could be audited.”
Bymer and Olivera said they were not privy to a closed session prior to the meeting in which the item was apparently discussed, since they don’t sit in on meetings regarding personnel issues. Neither said they had access to details about the settlement, including any information about a settlement amount.
City Manager Doug Hewett left the meeting before answering questions on the record.
In other business:
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608.
