For the second time in as many months, Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. has sought to oust Marsha Segal-George as city attorney, and for the second time, she has survived the threat of removal.

Santiago’s latest attempt to fire and replace Segal-George came near the end of the City Commission’s Feb. 5 meeting. The mayor charged her with failing to live up to the higher standards demanded of public officials.

“Equally troubling is the continued display of disrespect toward elected representatives and, more importantly, toward the residents we are sworn to serve,” Avila said. “It is time that we move this city forward.”

For months, Segal-George has been a lightning rod of criticism from the audience that includes people upset about her working without a contract for her professional services, as well as questioning her billing practices and legal advice. She was chosen to serve as Deltona’s city attorney last year, after the commission tapped her to take over from the Orlando law firm of Fowler Feeney & Associates, of which she was a member.

Mayor Avila urged his colleagues to remove Segal-George “within the next 45 days and to bring back all of the applicants from the previous city-attorney search.”

Avila’s motion went nowhere fast. No member of the commission would second the motion, and thus it was not even debated.

Segal-George sat silently during the climactic moments.