SCOTTSDALE, AZ — The Scottsdale mayor’s chief of staff remains on paid suspension amid an ongoing city investigation into alleged policy violations – and the city has not disclosed publicly what those violations are.
R. Lamar Whitmer was put on leave on January 14 after being escorted out of Scottsdale City Hall by uniformed police officers.
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The city first extended his leave in late February and has now extended it another 10 days.
Whitmer has served as chief of staff to Scottsdale Mayor Lisa Borowsky since last October.
Before the city hired him, Whitmer was a vocal critic of some city councilmembers. Just three months before being hired, he addressed the council directly at a meeting.
“This council is the worst example of elected officials that I’ve seen since the 1988 impeachment of Governor Mecham,” he said, referring to the scandal surrounding former Arizona Governor Evan Mecham.
He went on to single out three city councilmembers for criticism at that July meeting.
At a Jan. 21 news conference, the mayor was sharply critical of the way Whitmer was put on paid leave. She said she and Whitmer were working against a deadline the evening of Jan. 14 to finish the State of the City address when the city attorney called him and asked him to come to his office.
“He said, ‘Is it important? Because we're we have a deadline.’ This was five o'clock at night. We have a deadline to get this State of the City address done, and it’s tonight.”
Borowsky said she and Whitmer went back to work. Ten minutes later, she said Whitmer was escorted out of Scottsdale City Hall by police officers through a public entrance while a city Planning Commission meeting was underway.
Borowsky said they should have used a private exit.
ABC15 reached out to Whitmer’s attorney, Dennis Wilenchik, who declined to comment until the city finishes its report.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at: anne.ryman@abc15.com,
