One of the two New Orleans City Councilman who voted against sending a letter to Mayor LaToya Cantrell to demand that she fire her communications director is explaining his vote.
Councilman Eugene Green says there was too much conflicting testimony to vote in favor of Gregory Joseph's firing.
"It was difficult for me to take a vote right then that says he has to be fired," Green told WWL's Tommy Tucker on Thursday. "I am very hesitant with regards to the ultimate decision relative to employment."
Green said although another city employee testified that the mailer at the center of the Joseph controversy was tied to the recall effort against the mayor, there was no proof that Joseph himself knew that it was. Green said the testimony about the matter was "conflicting."
"One other person from the department of purchasing said it was in the context of the recall, and that's the language he used," Green said. "He was asked who said it specifically. 'I don't remember.' That does not mean that Gregory Joseph said that."
However, Green says Joseph is not in the clear.
"Gregory Joseph did something wrong, in my opinion," Green said. "It's not even an opinion. It's a fact with regards to breaking the contract into two so that he didn't have to go through the process of bidding."
Green says the council needs to proceed carefully while considering dismissing Joseph from his position. Green says he looks forward to hearing from Joseph again at another hearing next month.
"The mayor has said that she's not going to fire him, and he has a chance now to talk, to present witnesses, and to do whatever he wants to make his defense. Let's see what happens," Green said.
Green also noted that the council has other alternatives short of firing that it can use to discipline Joseph. He did not say what those alternatives are.
