The city council had a heated discussion Thursday night regarding continued payments made to former City Manger Jean-Ann McGrane, who was terminated last month. At issue was how the continued payments were authorized. Corporation Councel Geoffrey Chanin had written a memo which would have authorized continued payments by default – as long as none of the council raised objections. Chanin received no objections and McGrane’s paychecks continued, unbeknownst to Councilwomen Bell, Bello and Dickinson until recently. Councilwoman Bello objected to the method of authorization, saying “you can never appropriate public money without a public vote.” The two videos below are the full discussion; additional coverage is here and here.