The man who got City Manager Wayne Cauthen's job said Friday that the mayor came to him Tuesday night and asked he'd like the city manager's job.

Just one day after the City Council voted to suspend Cauthen with pay, Mayor Mark Funkhouser shed more light on why he wanted Cauthen out. Troy Schulte was named the acting city manager.

"We didn't remove a king, we removed an administrative employee," he said. "We need innovative, state-of-the-art leadership. We need the best professional manager we can get and I don't think that's what we had."

“I’m willing to give it a shot, we’ll see how it all works out and give it every waking moment,” Schulte said.

The mayor said switching city managers has been in the works since he was elected.

"The first time (he tried to replace Cauthen) I was criticized because I didn't have the votes," Funkhouser said. "This time I had the votes and pulled the trigger."

The city will have to pay out the remainder of Cauthen's contract.

The mayor told KCTV5 on Friday that it's not set in stone how much tax payers will have to spend to buyout Cauthen -- a low number would be $285,000 plus benefits, but the number could be more.

“I think if you add up the $550,000 we paid to settle the lawsuit with the mayor, I think people can say Mark Funkhouser and his supporters have cost us a million dollars," said Councilman Ed Ford.

"It was all a political coup," said Councilwoman Melba Curls. That's what you do. You get the votes and forge ahead. I wasn't consulted, nor any of my African American colleagues."

Several on the Council said they wonder when the city will address the estimated $60 million shortfall it faces in the upcoming year.

“We have a difficult budget process involving some tough choices for staff, council and community as what we can afford to do," Schulte said.

KCTV5 attempted to reach Cauthen on Friday, but got no response.