Martinsville fires city manager for cause following closed session

Aretha Ferrell-Benavides is no longer city manager following her termination, Thursday evening, by Martinsville’s city council. 

Following a closed session deliberation lasting more than two hours, councilors voted 4-1, with Mayor L.C. Jones casting the dissenting vote, to terminate Ferrell-Benavides for cause. 

In its motion before the vote, councilors related the termination to a number of factors, which included commission of an act involving malfeasance and dishonesty, violation of city charter and codes, unsatisfactory performance, and behavior deemed by the city council to adversely affect the confidence of the public or integrity of the city. Councilors did not provide detail about these factors. 

Earlier Thursday, in a conversation with Cardinal News, Ferrell-Benavides said she didn’t know what her standing was with the council. 

“I don’t know how the council feels,” Ferrell-Benavides said. “I don’t know how the community feels. I don’t know if there is too much that happened that it really makes it impossible. How do I regain trust in the community? How do I regain the respect of the employees who have now seen me placed on administrative leave? I don’t have the answer.” 

Ferrell-Benavides’ termination comes almost two weeks after council members initiated an audit into city expenditures and placed Ferrell-Benavides on paid administrative leave. As the sole dissenting vote, Jones referenced the audit when explaining why he voted against the termination. 

“I would be in favor of going along with the rest of the council but at this particular time I wanted to see the full scope of the investigation,” Jones said. 

Councilors received an audit brief earlier in the day, according to Jones. He said the council will know more ahead of an additional closed session meeting tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. 

Vice-Mayor Kathy Lawson said officials could also discuss the next steps for hiring a new manager. Although she voted in favor of terminating Ferrell-Benavides, she described it as one of the hardest things she has had to do in her elected career.  

“It was necessary,” Lawson said, prior to talking about the time it took for the council to reach its decision. “Why does anything take so long in government? It just takes time.” 

The council’s decision to terminate the city manager comes almost a month after formalizing her pay increase to $215,000 on July 24. A day later, councilors placed her on paid administrative leave. 

Lawson did not specify if the board reached its decision because of new information from the audit or if the termination was simply a culmination of events from the past several months. This includes a sitting councilor being escorted from a public meeting or the civil rights suit that followed.  

Ferrell-Benavides joined Martinsville in late 2023 following a unanimous decision by city councilors. She replaced city manager Leon Towarnicki and interim city manager Glen Adams. Her starting salary was $175,000.

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