At 3 p.m. Wednesday, Eagle Mountain's new mayor fired the city manager.

Mayor Brian Olsen said that in December when he took office he'd told City Administrator Chris Hillman there would be a "transition period."

"A unique relationship must exist between the mayor and the city administrator and there must be a rapport between the two," he said Wednesday, noting he'd given time for such a relationship to form but "it wasn't there."

City Treasurer Gordon Burt will serve as acting city administrator. Per his contract with the city, Hillman will remain on the payroll for 15 days, though he will not report to work, Olsen said. Hillman, who was hired in 2002, will also receive a severance package equal to four months of his salary. The mayor said that amount was not immediately available.

Hillman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Had Hillman done anything illegal or unethical to cause his terminationfi

"That was not the reason for the termination," Olsen said.

Just as a new president of the United States chooses new staffers, the mayor has the prerogative to chose his own city administrator, Olsen said.

"I do not intend on any more staff changes," he said.

City Council members were told individually, most via phone, of the decision shortly before 3 p.m., he said.

Olsen credited Hillman with helping to guide the city through "explosive growth" and the sale of the city's telecommunications utility.

In a statement released to the media 45 minutes after Hillman was terminated, Olsen said that "perhaps the greatest stewardship we have in government is the people's money. We have experienced a dramatic financial turnaround in the last four years.

City Treasurer Gordon Burt has brought expertise and tireless effort to the city's financial challenges. He deserves the lion's share of the credit for this transformation. Therefore I have asked him to serve as acting city administrator and he as agreed."

Burt, who did not speak during a two-hour work session with the City Council that began an hour after his appointment, looked almost stunned. Neither the mayor nor council members mentioned Hillman's firing or Burt's new position during the meeting, though Olsen made a short statement at the regular City Council meeting later in the evening.

Burt will only serve as an acting city administrator until the city can hire a permanent replacement for Hillman, Olsen said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B10.