Yesterday's article in the Carroll County edition about former Taneytown City Manager Joseph A. Mangini should have said he was attempting to rent a house in Pennsylvania.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.
Joseph A. Mangini Jr. says that when he was fired as Taneytown city manager two weeks ago, the mayor and City Council told him there was an appearance of impropriety in his dealings with a local developer.
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION
Mr. Mangini denies that he handled any city business inappropriately. He says the mayor and council just wanted an excuse to eliminate a driving force in the city's government.
"They didn't want someone who was a strong leader," Mr. Mangini said yesterday. "I don't have a problem with being terminated. I am not disputing their right to fire me.
"But when they say I did not do my job, that my work was unacceptable, that's when I take offense," he said.
Mr. Mangini was fired Aug. 9 during a closed session after the city's monthly council meeting. He was terminated after he refused to resign as requested by the mayor and council.
City Attorney Thomas F. Stansfield instructed all city officials not to comment on Mr. Mangini's situation.
According to Mr. Mangini, his termination stems from the assertion that there was a conflict of interest in Mr. Mangini's handling of letters of credit for Daybreak Estates, the developer of the Roberts Mill Run subdivision at the northeast end of town.
Both of the developer's letters of credit -- money in an account from which developers draw as they build -- expired by September 1992. At that point, city officials were authorized to step in and protect the city's interests. Letters of credit help assure that a developer doesn't run out of money and leave a project unfinished.
Mr. Mangini said he immediately began trying to get the letters of credit renewed. He said that when he was fired, he was told by the mayor and City Council that he had not tried to rectify the situation.
"I admit, I missed the expiration on the first letter of credit, but I was away doing my military service when it expired," said Mr. Mangini, who is in U.S. Army Reserve.
"But as soon as I found out about it, I sent out a letter to the developer telling him that the letter of credit had to be renewed before the city would take over the development."
Mr. Mangini has several letters dating from Sept. 2, 1992, through Aug. 6, 1993, that he sent to developer Samuel Rothblum, telling him to re-establish the letters of credit or face repercussions from the city.
