City Manager Patrick Salerno listens to Commissioner Ralph Cabrera Jr. during a special city commission meeting. Photo by Max Reed / For The Miami Herald

The Coral Gables Commission voted 3-2 Friday morning in favor of keeping City Manager Pat Salerno in office.

The vote, taken at an emergency meeting after a surprise motion Wednesday by a commissioner to terminate Salerno, also restores Salerno’s full power to hire and fire city employees.

Commissioners Maria Anderson, who initiated the movement to fire the manager at a budget workshop Wednesday morning, and Ralph Cabrera, who backed her, said they felt the administration had grown “toxic” under Salerno’s three years as the manager. They cited a crisis in employee morale and Anderson noted Salerno made it difficult for her to place items on the agenda. The manager, by city charter, is required to place on the agenda for public meetings items submitted by commission members, the city clerk or the city attorney.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/27/2915700/gables-manager-pat-salerno-keeps.html