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Erdmann's Retirement Letter

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

June 16, 2009

Here's a quick Lee Erdmann update.

Late last week, the city announced that Erdmann - its chief operating officer - was retiring, but Erdmann didn't return phone calls and left City Hall before Cityline got to him Friday.

Today, we bring you Erdmann's letter of resignation, in which he highlights his accomplishments since 2002 - but doesn't elaborate on his reasons for retiring as of July 31, the day after his 60th birthday. He does say that he made his decision "after considerable thought and discussion with my wife" and the mayor.

Erdmann.PDF

Typically happy to comment, Erdmann - who serves as the mayor's chief administrative aide by charter and runs the city at the mayor's direction -- has continued to decline to do so, saying through mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Barr that his retirement letter "says it all."

Cityline caught Mayor Eddie A. Perez Tuesday as he was getting out of his car and asked him about persistent City Hall talk that Erdmann and he got into an argument last week that precipitated Erdmann's departure.

"That didn't happen," Perez said. "People make things up a lot around this building."