Arturo Quintero, former mayor Carty Finkbeiner's top administrator, was fired Friday as a senior attorney with the Toledo law department.

Mayor Jack Ford, however, after hearing about the move, decided to reassign Mr. Quintero to the city's utilities department.

Mr. Quintero, 55, was Mr. Finkbeiner's executive assistant from August, 1996, until Dec. 21, when he moved to the law department.

John Madigan, the city's general counsel who works in the law department, said law director Barb Herring asked him to attend a meeting with Mr. Quintero about 4 p.m. Friday. He said Ms. Herring told Mr. Quintero that he was terminated and that arrangements were made for him to clear out his office today.

During the 20-minute meeting, Ms. Herring did not give any reasons for the firing, Mr. Madigan said. He said Mr. Quintero asked several questions.

Mayor Jack Ford said last night that he decided instead to move Mr. Quintero to the public utilities department. “I was informed on Friday that he was no longer going to have a role within the law department, and I talked with my chief of staff, and on Saturday I indicated that I thought he should continue with the city and we would use him in the public utilities area,” Mr. Ford said.

He said Ms. Herring had “philosophical and other issues” with Mr. Quintero, who was moved to the law department “at the eleventh hour” of Mr. Finkbeiner's term. The mayor said Mr. Quintero “was not a good fit” with Ms. Herring, who wanted to go in a different direction. The specifics of Mr. Quintero's new job had not been decided as of last night and will be discussed this morning, Mr. Ford said.

Mr. Quintero's institutional knowledge and his legal background will make him well-suited for working on some upcoming “big projects” in the utilities department, Mr. Ford said.

Mr. Madigan said he was unaware that Mr. Ford reassigned Mr. Quintero.

“That part is totally surprising to me,” Mr. Madigan said.

Ms. Herring did not return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Quintero was unavailable for comment when The Blade called his home last night.

Mr. Quintero served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine and earned a law degree from University of Toledo in 1979. He took a pay cut, from $82,000 to $61,000 a year, when he moved from executive assistant to the law department.

First Published March 18, 2002, 2:42 p.m.