Ex-Suffolk development official says she was forced out

SUFFOLK

The city's former economic development director maintains that she was forced last week to resign or be fired the same day.

Cindy Cave, who left last week after less than seven months into her job, laid out what she called "the real facts" behind her sudden departure in an e-mail to members of the Economic Development Authority board.

City spokeswoman Debbie George responded to a request for comment from City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn by writing "We cannot comment on personnel matters."

Cave's statement also raised questions about the viability of a major business deal that Mayor Linda Johnson touted in her State of the City address last month.

Cave said she was "blamed" for the lease between Sparta Composite Products and Denver-based developer ProLog "not being signed & ready to go."

In parenthesis, she added:

"With all due respect, this is a matter between those two business entities. If the Sparta deal falls through, it will not be because of me, but rather due to the economy."

The deal is to include a $13.2 million plant that would create nearly 200 jobs within five years. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine issued a news release about it in March.

Paul Oppenheim, vice president and general manager of Sparta Composite Products in San Diego, Calif., declined to respond to Cave's comment. But he said: "I can assure your readers that our project is still going forward, and nothing has changed as far as our timeline or our plans."

Cave said in her e-mail to EDA board members that she regretted not having time to say goodbye. She said she was providing the facts of her departure because some of them had been asked about it by reporters. Cave provided a copy of the e-mail she sent to the EDA but did not respond to an e-mail requesting further comment Wednesday.

Cave said Deputy City Manager Patrick Roberts and the human resources director visited her at 3:15 p.m. May 21 in her office. Roberts, whom Cave did not identify by name, said "this is not a good fit," Cave wrote.

He cited three issues, including the Sparta project, she said.

"He took offense when I passed along negative feedback to him from disgruntled business/property owners trying to navigate through the City's development process," Cave wrote.

Also, Cave said, Roberts "accused" her of using the budget process to "downsize/demote staff." Cave said she countered that she had presented a department budget with a 10 percent reduction, as requested by City Manager Selena Cuffee-Glenn, but her budget was reduced by 37 percent.

Cave wrote that she was told of no performance concerns during her employment. Cave said she was given two choices: "to resign or be terminated... either of which would result in May 21 being my last day of employment."

Mayor Johnson said Wednesday that she did not know anything about the situation other than that city staff had accepted Cave's resignation late last week.

Asked whether she wanted to know the reasons behind Cave's departure, Johnson responded:

"Do I want to know? As far as wanting to know, it's not really my business. We're not into personnel. We're supposed to be into policy."

Councilman Charles Parr, the council's liaison to the EDA, echoed the sentiment, saying that he hasn't asked why Cave had left and didn't want to know. "That's a personnel matter," he said.

Councilman Robert Barclay said he asked Cuffee-Glenn about it Wednesday and received a "satisfactory explanation," but it wasn't something that he would discuss.

Jim Shirley, a new board member of the Economic Development Authority, said he'd like to know more.

"We probably got quite a bit of money invested in her," he said. "And she's only been here seven months. So what are the circumstances?"

 Pilot writer Phil Walzer contributed to this report.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com