With no explanation given, the city manager of Benton Harbor has been fired.

City commissioners voted 5-to-3 to let him go during this week’s meeting.

Speaking against the ouster, Mayor Marcus Muhammad said Darwin Watson led the city out of “an abyss of financial disarray” and managed to balance the last four city budgets. He had worked for the city for more than two decades.

An interim manager will be appointed during a meeting set for Thursday night. The city’s Personnel and Finance Committee is searching for a new permanent manager.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Muhammad said that Watson was being appointed as his Chief of Staff, and will also serve as the city’s Director of Public Works.