It’s hard to tell who’s in charge at Raleigh’s City Hall when it comes to the sanitation workers’ protests. But it sure looks like City Manager Russell Allen has lost the City Council’s confidence.

In fact, it looks like the Council – not Allen – made the decision to fire the city’s top sanitation managers.

Mayor Charles Meeker took a surprising step when he met privately – without Allen – to hear the workers’ complaints. In Meeker’s defense, the workers asked for the meeting. But the Council normally leaves those matters to the city manager.

For one thing, the Council doesn’t directly hire or fire the sanitation director. That is the manager’s job. But apparently not in this case.

This is all sticky. State law bars collective bargaining with public employee unions. And unions nationally are targeting public employees as the most fertile field for growth. Is Meeker getting pulled into a union issue?

And it’s sticky for Allen. The only power the City Council has over city personnel is by hiring and firing the manager.

Are the Mayor and Council members unhappy with how Allen has handled this matter? Or how he handled the downtown art project?

If I was Allen, I wouldn’t feel too secure right now.

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