NEWPORT-Newport City Council members meeting Wednesday, March 20, for the first time since a majority fired City Administrator Scott Collins, failed to hire an interim or permanent city administrator to fill the vacant top executive position in city government.

Collins was fired on the spot by a vote of 3-2 in a surprise move when the City Council met at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 12.

Mayor Connie Ball requested the March 20 meeting so that the five Council members on the board could choose a successor to Collins so that the city's business could be taken care of.

The three aldermen who voted to fire Collins refused to rehire Collins for six months, even though that is what the city must pay him per his contract.

Alderman John Bugg said before the vote to rehire Collins under a new contract negotiated by Mayor Ball with Collins, "Let's put him back on the job for six months. There's a lot of stuff going on in the city. Scott has done a great job." Bugg also said Collins had faults during his five-year reign as city administrator, but asked rhetorically, "Who's perfect?"

For more details, please see the Thursday edition of the Newport Plain Talk.