Records obtained by The Citizen

show there was a move to fire Peachtree City Clerk Nancy Faulkner several

months before the City Council declined to reappoint her to that position.

Yet Faulkner and City Manager

Jim Basinger both said this week that the arrangement to have her report

directly to Basinger has worked quite well since council made that change

in January.

The council last month named

Basinger as interim city clerk until a charter revision study is concluded.

Faulkner was demoted to assistant city clerk in that same council meeting.

Although things are officially

well now, city records indicate the issue of Faulkner's status with the

city have been tumultuous for several months now.

On February 1, Faulkner signed

an agreement with the city to remove a written reprimand from her file

relating to her job performance. In that agreement, which was also signed

attorneys fees regarding the reprimand, the agreement states.

The records, which were provided

from Basinger. Those notes referred to an Oct. 31 conversation Basinger

had with Mayor Lenox, Councilwoman Annie McMenamin and City Attorney Rick

Lindsey about possibly firing Faulkner.

The notes said they had agreed

the city should appoint Basinger as clerk and "take action up to

and including termination [of Faulkner]." The reasons justifying

Faulkner's firing were, according to Basinger's notes:

An allegation that Faulkner

asked McMenamin to lie for her regarding Faulkner's viewing of a copy

of the pay plan.

Another allegation that Faulkner

lied in a deposition about comments city Councilman Dan Tennant made to

her that were of a sexual nature.

Waiting until January to fire

Faulkner was necessary, Basinger wrote, since he couldn't fire her due

to her being appointed by council. Also, waiting until then would be less

embarrassing than putting the matter on a separate council agenda to fire

her, he wrote.

Faulkner was issued the written

reprimand in October for approaching council members about job-related

problems and "violating the chain of command." That reprimand

was later removed from Faulkner's file under the agreement between her

and the city.

Despite the appearance of animosity

behind the scenes, Faulkner insists she has no problems reporting to City

Manager Jim Basinger in her current role at the city. Basinger is still

serving as city clerk, the role he was appointed to in January while council

considered changing the portion of the charter referring to the city clerk.

"I can see where he was

coming from," Faulkner said. "He was getting bad information.

We're able to see where each of us was coming from."

Basinger said he has worked

with Faulkner for a long time and they have been getting along well.

"Since she has been reporting

to me, I have not had any problems," Basinger said, adding that Faulkner

is a solid employee.

Basinger said Tuesday that

the reprimand involved a conversation Faulkner had with a council member

about a matter that should have been brought to him and Faulkner's supervisor

at the time, finance director Paul Salvatore. The subject of the discussion

was a bill Faulkner had received from City Attorney Rick Lindsey for $91.50,

(including a $65 attorney fee and $26.50 for copying fees) for a copy

of the city's pay plan study that she had received after a personal open

records request she filed.

According to Basinger's notes,

he was told by councilwoman Carol Fritz that she had initiated the conversation

with Faulkner, contrary to the original information Basinger received.

That helped justify removing the reprimand from Faulkner's file, Basinger

said.

It was later discovered that

the council member initiated the conversation, so removing the reprimand

from Faulkner's personnel file was appropriate, Basinger said.

Faulkner had specifically asked

to see a copy of the pay plan study although she was denied information

that was considered "proprietary," including the notes of interviews

with city employees and the questionnaires those employees filled out

as part of the pay plan process.

"I just wanted to see

the financial data backing up the half-million-dollar recommendation to

council," Faulkner said.

Records provided by the city

indicate that the role of the city clerk was called into question several

months before council discussed it in January at an open meeting. In October,

Faulkner was issued the written reprimand that included a memo from Mayor

Bob Lenox that stated, in part, "She was under no circumstances to

approach me or any council member about any job-related problems ­

her appointment by council and personal relationships with any council

members not withstanding."

The reprimand also included

a memo from Basinger in October which criticized Faulkner for "violation

of the chain of command by contacting council members on matters that

should be handled by your supervisor" and "relaying other employee

matters directly to council members."