A past City Council meeting.
City Council has attempted to fire Harrisburg’s chief of staff
At a legislative meeting on Tuesday night, council voted 4-3 against keeping Business Administrator Samuel Sulkosky on staff.
Sulkosky has served in the position since October, when he was hired by the city to fill a vacant post. However, council is required to vote on department director appointments.
Samuel Sulkosky
Council President Danielle Bowers and members Lamont Jones, Jocelyn Rawls and Ralph Rodriguez voted against Sulkosky’s hiring.
“What concerns me about Mr. Sulkosky is his storied employment history,” Bowers said.
At a previous council meeting, members questioned Sulkosky’s resume, which showed several short-term stays in positions, such as two recent roles as municipal managers, which he left after only a few months.
Council member Rawls shared that she was worried by Sulkosky’s past performance at council meetings.
“I was concerned of two particular meetings where Mr. Sulkosky was not prepared to give us answers,” Rawls said to explain her “no” vote. “I also had concerns that there was a reputation of being hostile against council members.”
When reached by phone, Sulkosky said that he believes, “[council] had no valid reason to do what they did.”
He explained some of his shorter employments as the nature of being a municipal manager with administration changeovers. He also noted that his immediate past role was an interim position, which is meant to be a short-term role.
Responding to council’s accusation that he had been “hostile,” he said that he believed Rawls was referencing a meeting when Rodriguez began laughing while Sulkosky was explaining a legal matter, and Sulkosky responded by saying that he didn’t understand what was funny.
Sulkosky said that he believes the move was “purely political.”
Sulkosky has not yet met with Mayor Wanda Williams to discuss what will happen next, he said.
Also at the meeting, council approved the appointment of Finance Director Robert Kennick, who was hired in January, by a vote of 6-1. Bowers voted against his appointment, citing his lack of government experience.
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