KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Mayor Mark Funkhouser and six members of the Kansas City Council voted to suspend City Manager Wayne Cauthen indefinitely Thursday.

The council voted 6-6 for the suspension. Funkhouser's vote broke the tie. The mayor said Cauthen has been suspended with pay, which may total more than $285,000 since there is 15 months left on Cauthen's contract.

Council members voting to approve the mayor's suspension decision were Jan Marcason, Deb Hermann, Bill Skaggs, Russ Johnson, Cindy Circo and Beth Gottstein. Terry Riley, Melba Curls, Sharon Sanders Brooks, Ed Ford, Cathy Jolly and John Sharp voted in opposition.

"At 1 (p.m.) today, the mayor came in his office and asked him to resign," said Cauthen's attorney, Charlie Harris. "He gave no reason, only that he had votes to get it done."

Earlier in the day, Funkhouser had sent a letter to council members hoping to suspend Cauthen and replace him with budget officer Troy Schulte as acting city manager.

The memo that went out to council members shortly before the day's council meeting read: "City Council members: As you know, I believe we need leadership for Kansas City. As of today, I am exercising my authority given to me as mayor of Kansas City to suspend the City Manager effective immediately. In the interim the City Manager has been asked to vacate the premises immediately. Mark Funkhouser."

The six council members who voted against the suspension said they were not happy with the Thursday's actions.

"We just evaluated the city manager several months ago and we all had some concerns about his performance, but nothing to this effect," Third District Councilwoman Sharon Sanders Brooks said.

Brooks said the late notice was upsetting to the six council members who voted against the suspension. Those who voted for the suspension had known about Funkhouser's intent for longet than the six opposed to the action.

The six who voted to remove Cauthen all declined comment after the meeting.

Funkhouser said he could not comment on the matter because it was a "personnel issue."

"I have believed for a long time that we've needed new leadership," Funkhouser said.

Cauthen's removal comes one day after city officials announced a $60 million deficit.

Cauthen declined several attempts to comment on the situation. Cauthen and those who work in his office were all asked to leave immediately by Schulte.

Schulte was approved by a 7-5 vote to be the interim city manager, while the search begins for a new person to fill the position.

This is not the first conflict between Funkhouser and Cauthen. In 2007, Funkhouser said he would not renew Cauthen's contract, but in 2008 a judge voted that the City Council could offer Cauthen a new contract, despite Funkhouser's objection.