Shirley axes 3 staffers

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President Joe Shirley Jr. fired three staffers Dec. 17, including a high appointee selected by the vice president to help him lead while Shirley was on leave.

Shirley fired Deputy Chief of Staff Isabelle Walker, office accountant Angela Cody and Barbara O'Keefe, who worked in the first lady's office.

Walker was selected by Vice President Ben Shelly to become chief of staff when he fired Patrick Sandoval Dec. 1. Shelly's move was done without consulting Shirley, who was on forced administrative leave imposed by the council. At the time, Shirley said he was not pleased with the action.

Shirley, who was reinstated in his office after seven weeks on Dec. 14, released no official comment on the recent firings.

George Hardeen, Shirley's spokesman, said the employees were fired because of errors in judgment.

"Errors in judgment were made in the past seven weeks," Hardeen said. "Some by them (the fired employees), some by others, and mistakes were made."

In the end, Shirley's decision to release the individuals "came down to a matter of trust," Hardeen said.

Shirley welcomed back Sandoval almost immediately upon his reinstatement as president, Sandoval said. The paperwork was completed the following day.

His decision to fire at least one staffer who served directly under Shelly for a brief period could be perceived as a sign of friction between the president and vice president. In all likelihood, such tension was inevitable when Shelly originally fired Sandoval.

Since Shirley's reinstatement, he has had little contact with Shelly, who has been on out of the office much of the time, Hardeen said. Shirley's schedule was beginning to fill itself by the end of his first week back.

Although no details were released regarding the firings, Hardeen implied the actions were not taken lightly.

"The president's history has been to exercise great reluctance to ever letting an employee go," he said.

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