Marathon City Council votes 3-2 to fire City Manager George Garrett

The Marathon City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to terminate City Manager George S. Garrett "without cause," with Councilman Kenny Matlock making the motion, Vice Mayor Debbie Struyf seconding and Mayor Lynny Del Gaizo casting the deciding third vote. The termination triggers a 30-day period under Garrett’s employment agreement.

Matlock added a review item at the start of Tuesday’s session and later moved to end Garrett’s employment; Matlock said, "I’d love to give reasons. As it is, Garrett has 30 days (per his contract). He handled it like a pro. I don’t hate the guy." Matlock also told reporters, "These are not knee-jerk reactions, and there are lots of plans in place. ... I’m going to rip the Band-Aid off."

Mayor Del Gaizo said she had privately requested Garrett’s resignation twice in the month before the vote, including roughly two weeks before the meeting and again on Feb. 24. Del Gaizo said she believed Garrett’s performance showed "complacent, stagnant and procrastinating" behavior and added, "When it came down to thinking of one person or the community, I had to put the community first."

Council Members Robyn Still and Lynn Landry voted against termination. Still, speaking on Keysnewstalk the morning after the vote, noted Garrett "can stay for 30 days before that termination is final. He doesn’t have to stay. He could simply say, this morning, I’m not going to go to work, and he wouldn’t have to go to work." Still also warned the council would lose institutional knowledge on time-sensitive projects, saying, "He has institutional knowledge of our city, of the county. We have some serious projects that are going on, the deep wells. ... we’re under a court order to get that done, and we’re mandated on a timeline, and George knows that project inside and out, and if we don’t make that deadline, we face contempt of court, further fines."

Garrett, who was promoted from planning director to city manager in late 2020, did not answer calls at city hall or his cellular phone the day after the vote. His initial salary was set at $160,000 with cost-of-living and performance increases, and the council extended his contract in February 2024 through Feb. 13, 2027 by a 4-1 vote that Matlock opposed. No formal interim appointment was announced, though Del Gaizo said Deputy City Manager Brian Bradley is likely to assume some responsibilities while the council searches for a replacement.

Details remain unresolved: the size and terms of any severance package have not been disclosed—"There is a severance package. I don’t know what that is," Still said—and the city attorney is handling legal and contract matters. With the split vote and public statements that specific causes were withheld to avoid legal exposure, Marathon officials must now balance ongoing obligations such as the deep wells project with the short contract window and the process for naming an interim or permanent successor.