Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser has suspended the city manager.
In a letter to City Council members Thursday, Funkhouser said he was suspending Wayne Cauthen immediately. He didn't give a reason except to say he was exercising his authority as mayor and had asked Cauthen to leave City Hall immediately.
Relations between Funkhouser and Cauthen have been strained for years. In 2007, the mayor said he wouldn't support a city ordinance to extend Cauthen's contract.
A year later, a judge determined that nine council members could go around Funkhouser and offer Cauthen the extension themselves.
Some council members told The Kansas City Star that Funkhouser's letter and decision caught them off-guard.