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City Councilman Steve Leal publicly demanded Monday that Tucson City Manager Mike Hein resign immediately or face a termination hearing at the council's next meeting.

But three other council Democrats who have been openly critical of Hein in the past month — Shirley Scott, Regina Romero and Karin Uhlich — did not join him, with all three refusing to say whether they would vote to fire Hein.

It takes four of the six council members to vote to fire the manager.

Councilman Rodney Glassman blasted Leal's letter, saying it lacked respect and was an abnormal approach to the public's business.

Two prominent business leaders — both active Democrats — expressed outrage and dismay over Leal's letter, including Larry Hecker who said it was "unbelievable" that Leal would demand Hein's resignation without a public meeting to discuss it.

"It's like negotiating a deal on the receiving end of a firing line," Hecker said. "This is too sudden, too unexpected and it's not fair to the community. It sucks."

Hein, who was appointed in 2005, is out of the state on vacation and could not be reached for comment. He is expected to return to Tucson on Thursday, before leaving for another trip out of state.

Leal said he tried to send the letter on June 18, the same day Hein left on vacation. But for an unexplained reason, the e-mail never went out. Leal said he discovered the letter wasn't delivered on Friday but waited until Monday to resend it.

In the letter, Leal says he "lost the comfort level" he needs "for a good working relationship" with the city manager.

If Hein signed the resignation demand, Leal promised to honor Hein's six-month, $100,000 termination severance agreement. If Hein refused, Leal said he would place his termination on the council agenda.

Glassman said he never heard about the e-mail last week. Other council members who were supposed to have received the original e-mail, or their aides, also said it never arrived.

Although dissatisfaction with Hein has been building in recent weeks, Leal said he did not talk to anyone on the council about firing Hein last week and said he didn't recall anyone else he spoke with in Tucson's business or political realms about Hein's "performance issues."

Leal said he was "sorry it played out that way," with the letter going out while Hein was gone. "I may have been confused about when he was leaving," Leal said, adding he thought Hein was leaving town later on June 18 than he did.

But Leal said he could not continue to ignore issues he says he's had with Hein for years. The relationship with the manager is based on hope and trust, Leal said, adding "that's eroded over time. I don't have it."

"The comfort level isn't there," Leal said. "The man works at the pleasure of the council."

The three other council members who have publicly criticized Hein over different issues have not joined the call for Hein's ouster.

Uhlich, who last week said she didn't know if Hein's "deceit, incompetence or just being overwhelmed" was the cause of her not getting the information she needed, called for an executive session to discuss the issues with Hein. The meeting needs to be public and Hein needs to attend, she said.

Despite very serious concerns about Hein, Uhlich said she "hadn't given enough thought" to whether she would vote to fire him right now. "I'm not prepared to share that with you," she said.

Scott, who has chastised Hein several times over the city's dispute with its police union, said "you bet" she has issues with him. But she declined to back his ouster Monday and said Hein needs the chance to respond.

"I don't make decisions in the newspaper, I make decisions at the table," Scott said.

Romero followed a similar track, although she also praised the manager, contending, "I have no problems with Mike Hein." She said she worked well with him while with Pima County.

But Romero went on to say she has a disagreement with him, adding, "We all answer to someone: Mike's role is to answer to the City Council members."

Would she vote to fire him? "I wouldn't be able to tell you that right now," she responded.

Other council members and Mayor Bob Walkup disagreed. "Asking for Mike Hein's resignation is absolutely the wrong thing to do," said Walkup, the council's only Republican.

Glassman said he supports Hein and has had a positive experience with him.

"You need to treat people with respect, and I don't think this was a very thoughtful approach," Glassman said. "I have a hard time believing anyone would deal with an employee this way."

The council needs to meet and discuss the issues around Hein, said Councilwoman Nina Trasoff, adding that her concerns with the manager are not as strong. She declined comment on Leal's letter.

Developer Eric Abrams, a Democrat, said the council needs to work together to solve Tucson's big problems rather than pointing fingers and placing blame.

A national search would be a huge disruption, he said, questioning who would take the job, because of the "dysfunction that seems to exist in the city of Tucson generally."

Leal responded a national search is "not as disruptive as the problems we've been having" and he was sure there was someone who would want the job because "there always is."

Hecker said a major strength of Hein is his ability to work with different groups of people, including the business community, which Hecker said "absolutely" respects him.

He said progress is being made on major issues such as water, economic development and Downtown redevelopment.

"All of a sudden you undermine the confidence of the community," Hecker said of Leal's letter. "It creates an environment that's difficult to work through."