Article written when Shane Haynes was forced out of office.

She cried while she was doing it, but Springfield Mayor Doris Flythe helped Shane Haynes, the city's first administrator, clear out his office Tuesday afternoon.

Haynes forced to resign as Springfield administrator

Mayor, others wear black in silent protest as council accepts resignation letter.

By Charles Cochran
Savannah Morning News

She cried while she was doing it, but Springfield Mayor Doris Flythe helped Shane Haynes, the city's first administrator, clear out his office Tuesday afternoon.

A short time earlier, a two-member delegation from the City Council had paid Haynes a visit, informing him that a majority of the council planned to vote him out of a job that night.

Council members Keith Johnson and Randy Shearouse gave Haynes, who had been working without a contract since he took the job in February, the option of resigning with a 90-day severance package.

Text of Haynes' resignation letter

Dear Mayor Flythe:

I hereby tender my resignation as the City Administrator for the City of Springfield effective immediately. I do this with a heavy heart. Not because I have any ill will toward you, City Council, the staff or any of the wonderful citizens of Springfield. I offer my resignation because I care too much for this City to be the cause of even a moment of divisiveness.

I feel the same about Springfield today as I did the day I accepted the job. I feel a tremendous sense of pride knowing that I have had the opportunity to work alongside some of the finest individuals the Lord has made.

I pray that he will continue to bless you, the Council, staff members and citizens of Springfield. It has truly been a pleasure. Thank you.

Sincerely,

R. Shane Haynes

Haynes accepted the offer. So Flythe wore black as she read his resignation letter to a hushed council chamber Tuesday evening, as did councilman Stephen Mobley and Better Hometown Program director Jennifer Senter.

"It was a sight to behold," Flythe said later. "We couldn't protest out loud, but we did it in our own subtle way."

There are no plans to hire a replacement. Instead, the city will revert the structure that existed before Haynes was hired in February, with City Clerk Cathy Rushing overseeing day-to-day affairs.

Flythe said Haynes fell prey to a block of four council members -- Johnson, Shearouse, Max Neidlinger, and Harris Hinely, Sr. -- who are bent on slashing city property taxes. But she believes city services may end up suffering.

"Cutting city taxes is fine if you've got money coming in from another source, but we don't have any more money coming in," Flythe said. "We've got the (state) Environmental Protection Division down our necks wanting us to raise the water and sewer rates, but they don't want to do that, either.

"I don't know what they think we're going to use for money."

Shearouse said the matter boiled down to Haynes failing to secure state and federal grants that would have helped to defray his $45,000-per-year salary.

"When we first hired Shane, those grants were part of the hiring conditions that we discussed," Shearouse said. "It came down to a budget issue as to whether Springfield could afford an administrator. Just looking at the budget, we didn't feel like it could (afford an administrator) any longer because the position would not be subsidized through grants or other outside income."

At the same time, it looks unlikely that Springfield will move forward with Haynes' proposal to privatize its public works department, turning it over to Operations Management International, Inc.

Shearouse said he remains open to the idea, but that he's not convinced that it's right for Springfield. "I'm not sure that it's feasible at this point. I'm not sure that that's what Springfield needs," he said.

Ray Richard, a regional manager for Operations Management International, Inc., laid out a detailed proposal for managing Springfield's $500,000 per year public works operation during a council meeting earlier this month.

Haynes, who didn't attend Tuesday night's council meeting and severed his final tie with the city when he turned in a car Wednesday morning, said he has no regrets -- and that he isn't angry.

"I think that in small-town government, especially in south Georgia, change is not always seen as a good thing in the minds of many people," Haynes said.

Whether he is there or not, the city needs to move right now, Haynes said, to accommodate the new residents that will move in during the next five or 10 years.

"Hopefully, there'll be some measures taken to plan for that growth and really focus on the city's infrastructure," he said.

Haynes said he had believed for some time that his job might be in jeopardy.

"As the year has gone along, there have been some events that sort of signaled that the City Council may have believed they made a mistake by hiring an administrator," Haynes said.

There was a hard-fought series of negotiations with the county government on fire service contracts and boundary lines for water delivery.

Council members are looking hard at possible cuts in the city police force next year.

And earlier this year, the council formed roughly into blocks after Johnson won the mayor pro tem's position that councilman Steve Mobley had long held.

Haynes, who moved his wife and toddler-aged son into a home outside Guyton in March, had worked in the Bulloch County tax commissioner's office prior to taking the Springfield job. He said he's not sure what he'll do next. Haynes holds a master's degree in public administration from Georgia Southern University.