City Commissioner Tom Oosterhoudt said Wednesday he wants to know more about City Manager Julio Avael's stable of "special consultants"— including Paul Clayton, who reportedly handles "special projects" for Avael.
"We should know how many consultants there are, what they're getting paid and what they're supposed to be doing for the money," Oosterhoudt said.
He said he would request that the matter be placed on the agenda for the next City Commission meeting as a discussion item.
Oosterhoudt's call for a review comes in the wake of his recent run-in with Clayton, a City contract employee who reports directly to Avael.
Three weeks ago, Oosterhoudt said that Clayton asked to come to his home to talk about City government in general.
"But what he really wanted to do was pressure me to fall `in line' with his and Avael's policies," Oosterhoudt said. "And he said that if I didn't become more of a `team player,' he would work to isolate me from City Staff and guarantee that I would become a one-term Commissioner.
"I was astounded that I was being threatened by a City employee," Oosterhoudt said. "And what really seemed strange was that he seemed to be there representing Avael. He spent a lot of time defending Avael's handling of former Police Chief Ray Peterson's forced retirement."
Clayton told Key West The Newspaper that he is a management training consultant to the City, but that he also acts as liaison to the gay community, chairs Avael's Trust In Government Committee, and co-anchors the City's "Point-to-Point" TV show. He is also the City's "ombudsman."
Clayton reportedly gets an annual fee of $30,500 from the City. But he reportedly has no office hours.
He initially told KWTN that he went to see Oosterhoudt wearing his Trust In Government and gay liaison hats. But when the incident hit the press, he changed his story. He now says he was there as a "private citizen."
He said that he set up the meeting independently of Avael— "but I told him about it after the fact."
Oosterhoudt has called for Clayton's firing.