Three weeks after Minnetrista's longtime mayor angrily resigned, its city administrator has been fired.

The City Council fired Mike Funk after a performance review Monday. Mayor Anne Hunt declined to offer specifics about what led to Funk's dismissal. He had been city administrator for almost seven years.

Funk will be replaced on an interim basis by assistant city administrator Mike Barone.

"There is not much to say," Hunt said, when asked why Funk had been fired. Personnel decisions are often confidential.

In a written statement, Funk said he respected the council's decision to make a change.

He added that he was proud of the progress the city had made in recent years, and specifically thanked city staff and "Mayor Fischer and the previous council for giving me this opportunity."

Former Mayor Cheryl Fischer, who had been mayor for 14 years, resigned in April, citing a toxic relationship with the remaining four council members and predicting that some city staffers would also leave or be fired. Contentious issues have included a new public safety building and studies for a new drinking water treatment plant. Fischer and an outspoken contingent of citizens have also contended that the new council has been violating open meeting requirements, which Hunt has denied.

Hunt said the council will discuss how it might deal with the city administrator position at its May 19 meeting.

Bill McAuliffe • 612-673-7646