KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There is more information in the ouster of former city manager Wayne Cauthen.
We've learned it's going to cost taxpayers even more than first expected. And the drama was apparently not started by the mayor after all.
Sources tell me it may actually cost more than $400,000 dollars to pay off Cauthen.
That's much higher than the $280,000 the council talked about Thursday.
The council was only looking at the base salary, but the new, higher number includes a payout for accrued vacation time and other benefits Cauthen would be due after being fired.
Council members seemed only a little surprised that the potential payout had gone up.
"Well, I think you add it to the $550,000 we paid to settle the lawsuit against the mayor, and I think people can say Mayor Funkhouser and his supporters have wasted a million dollars," said Ed Ford, a council member who voted to keep Cauthen.
"That's $400,000 that can't be spent on police protection and fire protection or improving streets and bridges and sidewalks," said John Sharp, another council member who was upset to hear the new number.
Three council members changed their minds and voted against Cauthen Thursday.
Two years ago they'd fought to keep him.
"Today's a different story. We're in a different economic time," Cindy Circo explained she's been upset for some time, but had been keeping it to herself.
"It was not a single thing; it was a hard, long thought out decision of mine personally. And I think that at this point in time it is the right thing for the city as a whole," added council member Circo.
Jan Marcason also flipped.
She's vice-chair of the budget committee, which has been upset with Cauthen in recent months for not implementing budget cuts and layoffs as directed.
"It's really the economy, we've got to be on our A-game,., we've got to be working harder, smarter, and things have got to move forward. We've got a 60-million dollar budget deficit," said Marcason as she talked about voting against Cauthen.
The change of hearts doomed Cauthen's tenure.
Funkhouser is claiming victory, since he has been trying to get rid of Cauthen for two years and didn't have enough council support until this week.
But multiple sources have told me that it was actually city council members who decided amongst themselves they had enough votes, put the deal together, and then took it to the mayor to carry out.
