Sparks City Council has voted to keep their City Manager Neil Krutz.
It was a 3-2 vote to terminate Krutz’s employment, but Mayor Ed Lawson, who had the final say in the decision, opted to keep Krutz.
Krutz scored 2.5 out of five on his performance evaluation.
Councilmembers indicated that it's rare for a city manager to score below a 3.
The biggest area of improvement - leadership.
Councilmembers said it will take a lot of work for Krutz to build back trust with Sparks staff and citizens.
One action that Krutz has seen perhaps the most backlash from - in December - he posted a public YouTube video saying newly appointed Fire Chief Mark Lawson would be facing criminal charges.
Krutz said in the video that he asked for Lawson’s resignation and received it.
Lawson has sued Krutz and the City of Sparks over the incident.
Dian Vanderwell was the councilmember who brought the agenda item asking to fire Krutz. She said Krutz does not have the best interests of the city of Sparks at heart.
Krutz was appointed City Manager by late Mayor Ron Smith and confirmed by the Sparks City Council in February 2019.
