Woodhaven City Administrator Jeff Harris resigned effective Aug. 19 and accused Mayor Patricia Odette of retaliation, which she denies.

Woodhaven's longtime city administrator is stepping down after nearly 20 years with the city, saying in his resignation letter that Mayor Patricia Odette froze him out for months and that the City Council failed to fix the problem.

Jeff Harris submitted his resignation in a letter dated Aug. 11 and addressed to the Woodhaven City Council. It takes effect Aug. 19. In the letter, Harris cited retaliation by Odette, a breakdown in communication between his office and hers, and the fallout from an independent investigation into misconduct allegations that involved both of them.

Odette denied the claims through her attorney, Larry Gadd, who said the mayor never ignored a call, text or email from Harris and never demanded that he be fired.

The dispute traces back to April, when allegations surfaced against Odette and she in turn raised complaints about Harris. The city later commissioned an independent investigation into the matter. Harris wrote that he expected to present his own notes and a full account of his complaint to the council once the investigation concluded, but said he was never given that chance.

According to Harris, Odette and Gadd sent him a cease-and-desist demand that he said blocked him from responding publicly to statements about him that he considered false. He also said he was repeatedly interrupted during a closed-session meeting on June 2 with the investigator and city officials, and that he came away confused when some council members described the investigation's findings as essentially a "draw" between him and the mayor.

Harris wrote that Odette had not spoken with him directly since April 1, despite a city ordinance that requires the administrator to work closely with the mayor on day-to-day operations. "The continued lack of communication from the Mayor, along with the absence of communication from several Council members, has left me unable to effectively perform my duties," Harris wrote in the letter.

Harris also accused Odette and other city employees of making false statements during the course of the investigation and said the council took no action after those statements were raised. He wrote that Odette had repeatedly said she wanted him fired and continued making comments about him to city officials and the public even after the investigation wrapped up. He said the stress of the situation had taken a toll on his physical and mental health.

Gadd pushed back on nearly every point. He said the mayor is saddened that Harris has not moved past the investigation's findings and the council's subsequent discussion of the report. He said there is no record of Odette failing to respond to any communication from Harris, and that she never interfered with his job duties or called for his removal.

Gadd also noted that Harris continued to receive his full salary for more than two months after the investigation report was issued and pointed to that as evidence the resignation was voluntary rather than the result of any adverse action by the city.

Woodhaven's city ordinance sets up a structure in which the administrator handles daily operations while working under the mayor's direction, a relationship Harris said had effectively stopped functioning since the spring. The council has not publicly detailed what steps, if any, it took in response to Harris's complaints about being cut off from the mayor's office.

The independent investigation's full findings, and how the council weighed them, remain the central point of disagreement between the two sides. Neither Harris nor Gadd, on Odette's behalf, indicated whether either side plans further legal or formal action. Harris's resignation leaves Woodhaven without a city administrator as of Aug. 19, and the council will need to decide whether to appoint an interim replacement or open a search for a permanent successor.