Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson Discusses Omni Building, Early City Council Meetings, and Gary Zheng’s Dismissal [AUDIO]

On Friday's edition of Lubbock's First News, Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson spoke with Tom Collins and Laura Mac about the latest coming out of city council.

During last night's city council meeting, Robertson put forward a motion to begin city council meetings earlier in the day. He said that the meetings have been going too long recently, and also made the comment that as long as cameras remained in City Hall, there will be politicians who want to posture for the camera.

Robertson also spoke about the re-opening of lanes near the Omni Building downtown, praising the "Free My Street" campaign who brought the issue forward for their professional manner and agreeing that the businesses affected by the lane closures needed some relief.

Contrary to earlier media reports, the council did not remove any members of the electric utility board. Robertson explained that last night's agenda item was nothing more than a legal briefing, and no action regarding the EUB was taken at the meeting.

Robertson also shared his thoughts on the dismissal of LP&L CEO Gary Zheng. He explained that the charter allows the EUB to have control over their CEO and to give him a large severance package, which Robertson believes was a mistake.

"While I believe there may be some facts out there that would allow the board to terminate Mr. Zheng for cause, it's a tough one...we know what it's going to cost us to fire him without cause, but we don't know what it's going to cost the taxpayers if we fire him for cause and he hires attorneys and we battle this for a couple of years, we end up in court, and we've got all these lawsuits. The mistake was not terminating Mr. Zheng, but the mistake was giving him the crazy severance package a couple of years ago. That's where the mistake was made."

Zheng was placed on paid leave earlier this week.

Mayor Glen Robertson appears Friday mornings at 7 AM after every city council meeting on Lubbock's First News. Listen to the complete interview with Robertson here:

You can also listen of your iPhone, iPad and other mobile device by following the link below:

KFYO Glen Robertson 05/23/14

Be sure and tune in to Lubbock's First News with Tom Collins and Laura Mac weekday mornings from 6 AM to 8:30 AM on NewsTalk 790 KFYO and online at KFYO.com.