Rockville City Manager Rob DiSpirito, who had been placed on a performance improvement plan in May, has resigned, according to a press release issued Friday by the city.
The mayor and city council accepted DiSpirito’s resignation Thursday and appointed Deputy City Manager Barack Matite as acting city manager effective immediately, according to the press release. The resignation came after the council held a closed session to discuss DiSpirito’s performance earlier in the day.
In a phone call with MoCo360, DiSpirito said he was unable to say much about his resignation but was “leaving to pursue another endeavor.”
DiSpirito had been placed on a three-month performance improvement plan by the mayor and council in May. While the plan and its reasoning were discussed privately in a closed session, the 4-1 vote was made publicly. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala was the sole member to vote against instating the plan.
“I don’t know how the sequence of events unrolled, but I’m not going to vote for it,” Pierzchala said before the vote. “I think things have moved past the point where a performance improvement plan is going to be effective.”
DiSpirito had served as city manager since January 2017.
Matite served as city manager in Eudora, Kansas, until accepting the role of deputy city manager of Rockville starting in January of this year, according to the Eudora Times.
Rockville has a council-manager form of government. The city manager is responsible for carrying out the day-to-day operations of the city and reports to the mayor and city council, according to the city press release. The city manager’s duties include implementing council policies, preparing the city budget, and hiring and supervising city staff.
Matite, Mayor Bridget Newton and the four councilmembers did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Spokespeople for the city council and city manager’s office could not be reached Friday afternoon.
