By REBECCA HANSEN-WHITE/KLCC News

After months of turmoil, the Toledo city council has parted ways with its city manager.

Toledo’s city manager, Doug Wiggins, and its fire chief, Larry Robeson, have been on administrative leave since September. In the last few weeks, Toledo’s finance director, who had temporarily been promoted to interim city manager, and its two paid firefighters resigned.

On Wednesday, the city council removed Wiggins on a 4-3 vote after spending hours in a closed door executive session with their attorney.

Toledo Mayor Rod Cross was one of the “no” votes. He said he believes in giving people second chances.

“We have never had a perfect city manager,” Cross said. “As we found out in our last recruitment, the player pool is getting smaller and smaller. And if we’re looking for perfection in a person to fill a role, we will never find that person.”

The council also voted to give the city attorney — one of the only other employee that reports directly to them — the authority to make smaller purchases, which will allow day-to-day business at the city to continue.

Cross said Robeson returned to work last week. He said Siletz Fire District chief David Lapof will act as co-chief while the department gets back on its feet. Several volunteer firefighters who left amidst strife at the city have also returned.

City council meetings at the city over the last few months have been tense, with many constituents using public comment to demand transparency. Many volunteers have also provided emotional public comment, saying they felt they were no longer welcome at the fire department.

Cross told KLCC he could not answer specific questions about complaints or investigations against employees. He said now that the issue is mostly resolved, he’s hoping the community will come together.

“We’re learning from this,” he said. “There’s no system that’s perfect, especially when you involve human beings, they’re far from perfect. We’re doing the best we can and we’re trying to get better.”

Cross said Toledo has reached out to the League of Oregon Cities and the Oregon City/County Management Association for help finding an interim leader. The council will discuss the recruitment process for finding a permanent city manager at a future meeting.