Oakland's Dellums reaches his limit and fires Edgerly

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, apparently having reached his limit in his ongoing range war with embattled City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, fired the city executive this week.

In a publicly released letter sent to Edgerly on Tuesday, Dellums got straight to the point:

Deborah Edgerly, City Administrator

Ms. Edgerly,

I have elected to terminate you, effective immediately. You will receive your final paycheck that reflects the correct balances, as soon as it can be processed. You will also receive a letter explaining your COBRA rights.

As part of the regular process of administrative separation from employment, I ask that you please contact (intentional deletion by city) to arrange the collection of your personal belongings and to return the City's property, including but not limited to any credit cards, computers, building and parking access cards, cellular phones and personal data assistants (e.g. Blackberry, TREO, etc.).

Sincerely,

Ronald V. Dellums, Mayor

Dellums, who late last week placed Edgerly on paid administrative leave until her July 31 retirement, apparently reached his limit with her when she began to renegotiate her scheduled retirement. Prior to that she has also squabbled with the mayor over her exact status and whether she would retain authority over the police department.

Edgerly has been accused of interfering with an Oakland Police during a June 7 gang sweep that involving her nephew. She has denied all wrongdoing.

Now that Dellums has acted to fire Edgerly, city hall observers are expecting that she will sue the mayor and the city.

"We are sorry the mayor has apparently received bad legal advice and has taken an action that is clearly unlawful," Doron Weinberg, Edgerly's attorney, told the Oakland Tribune.

Edgerly, 56, was appointed as the city's highest non-elected official by then Mayor Jerry Brown. She was earning about $260,000 annually. Dellums has appointed Dan Lindheim as acting city administrator.