Venice on the web
A semi-regular column

So long, good luck with all that, and thanks for all the fish
James Olson, the newly hired city finance director, submitted a letter of resignation on Monday morning and then disappeared. He had held the position for just under two months.

His resignation letter was short and to the point:

August 9, 2004

Dear Mayor Calamaras and City Council Members:

Please accept this letter as my resignation as Finance Director of the City of Venice. This resignation shall take effect immediately.

I would like to thank you for the confidence that you showed me by appointing me to this position, and I would like to wish all of you the best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,
James N. Olson

Neither the letter or any statements made by Olson gave any indication as to why he was resigning. City staff and officials spent much of Monday trying to reach Olson with no luck. Finally on Monday evening, Mayor Dean Calamaras was able to make contact with Olson, this according to City Manager Marty Black.

Calamaras issued a memo on Tuesday morning, stating simply that Olson had resigned for personal reasons. Black stated on Tuesday morning that the mayor was told that Olson was having financial problems in obtaining housing in the Venice area due to not being able to sell his house in Jamestown, New York.

At Tuesday's council meeting, city council voted unanimously to accept his resignation and to appoint Joanne Lounsbury as interim finance director. Lounsbury, who sat in the director's chair throughout the meeting, is the city's deputy finance director.

City Manager Marty Black stated that the city's former finance director, Mike McPhail, was under contract as an outside consultant with the city until the end of the month. Black stated that there are some logistical problems with McPhail's contract work however, as he is limited in what he can earn due to Social Security rules.

Before voting to accept, there was some talk of reaching out to Olson to try to convince him to change his mind. That was squelched by Councilman John Moore. Moore commented that if Olson was unable to keep his own finances in order, Moore didn't feel comfortable with Olson handling the city's.

Venice Florida! dot com reached Olson by phone on Tuesday evening. Olson refused to confirm or deny any reason for his abrupt departure. "I really don't have anything bad to say about any of the people in Venice, and I can't comment on anything other than that. But thanks for taking the time to call."

The city will begin another national search for candidates in the near future.

John Patten is the editor and publisher of Venice Florida! dot com and had previously worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.