Council candidate questions his firing by the city

By: Will Jones | Times-Dispatch
Published: September 30, 2009

A candidate for Richmond City Council says he was fired from his job with the city last week because he's running for election.

Clarence Kenney doesn't dispute the city code section that prohibits him from being a candidate and employee at the same time -- he just wants to know why his job wasn't an issue when he ran for council last year.

"I feel like it's definitely a political move," he said yesterday of the sudden attention to code requirements.

Kenney is one of six candidates in a Nov. 3 special election to represent the council's 7th District, which includes Church Hill and much of the East End. The others are Ronald L. Bond, Deanna Lewis, Cynthia I. Newbille, Garry F. Powell and Robin D. Robinson.

Kenney suspects his candidacy was scrutinized closely because the race is more up for grabs than it was last fall, when he challenged longtime Councilwoman Delores L. McQuinn. She won re-election easily but later resigned after winning a special election to represent the 70th District in the House of Delegates. Betty Squire has served the council's 7th District on an interim basis.

In a six-way race with no incumbent, "I could luck up and win," Kenney said, "or cause someone else not to win."

Tammy D. Hawley, press secretary to Mayor Dwight C. Jones, said yesterday that she could not discuss Kenney's situation because it's a personnel matter under review by the Department of Human Resources.

Kenney said he was fired Friday after having worked five years as a part-time recreational supervisor for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.

Under the Richmond City Code, no employee in a classified position "shall continue in such position after becoming a candidate for nomination or election to an office elected by voters of an election district which includes all or a part of the city or by the voters at large of the city for a constitutional office serving only the city." The rule has been in effect since 1948, City Attorney Norman B. Sales said.

On Monday, Kenney urged the City Council to change the rule and sought an explanation as to why his employment was disregarded when he ran last year. Council members had no answer, but President Kathy C. Graziano said it appeared that Kenney might have been misinformed about whether he could run for office and keep his job.

In an interview, Kenney said he asked the city attorney's office last summer if he could run and keep his job, and was told initially that he could. He added that Sales later indicated that might not be the case, but said Sales promised to check on the issue and never followed up.

Sales recalls the situation differently.

He said he called Kenney last summer to discuss his candidacy in light of the city-code restrictions and left a message. "We never talked directly, and he never called me back," Sales said.

Kenney, 51, said city officials gave him the option of resigning but he declined because he was worried that he might not qualify for unemployment benefits. He's now campaigning and looking for work until his part-time seasonal job with the Henrico County Division of Recreation and Parks begins later this year.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.