Following the uproar over sexist remarks made during a training session directed at city staff, Assistant City Manager Anthony Snipes has been suspended. Snipes played a key role in inviting the two speakers who made offensive comments toward women when giving a lecture on how to handle a majority female Council.
“As stated in my memo to you yesterday, the remarks made in the referenced training are not reflective in any way of our culture, philosophy, or approach toward managing this organization, nor our approach toward partnering with the City Council,” wrote City Manager Marc Ott in a memo to City Council and the Mayor. “I also promised to work toward addressing this issue swiftly and directly. To that end, I have already begun an investigation into how this training was implemented without the appropriate vetting.”
Snipes has been placed on paid “administrative leave pending the outcome” of an investigation into the issue. Human Resources Director Mark Washington will replace Snipes in the interim.
As the Chronicle reported this week, City Council members held a press conference on Wednesday to strongly denounce the comments. At least one CM says the gesture to take action and the admittance of guilt is appreciated – however, the city should focus on ensuring the same mistake isn’t replicated.
“I trust Marc Ott to take whatever steps needed to find out what occurred, but I’m also not really as concerned with what happened as I am with making sure that we correct for the future,” said District 5’s Ann Kitchen. “We need to embrace our diversity, find out the best way to take advantage of the strengths of our new Council, and make sure this type of action does not happen again.”
This article appears in May 15 • 2015.