Bill Garner, the former editorial cartoonist for The Washington Times, knew that the economy was tough and that cuts were coming. He just didn’t think they were coming his way.

“They were talking hot air up my ass for months when they knew all along they were going to be shoving me through the door,” Garner said.

The management of The Washington Times brought in “professional headhunters” to deal with that declining revenues and drops in circulation that are affecting most newspapers throughout the country.

Garner said the headhunters analyzed the paper, taking note of existing systems and personnel, and figured out what they could do to improve the paper for the future. Back in August, the decision was made to outsource The Times printing to The Baltimore Sun, saving the millions of dollars it would have taken to maintain their outdated presses.

Still, Garner was surprised that the headhunters came his way.

“The whole time, I was being told, ‘Hey Bill, keep up the great work Bill, good stuff Bill’,” Garner said. “Then they told me that my job was being eliminated, and that I had a week before I got my walking papers.”

According to Garner, the paper will look towards the Wall Street Journal’s model of not using editorial cartoons on their opinion pages, leaning instead to provide original commentary versus purchasing syndicated content.

Garner, who spent over 20 years at The Times, is now working on continuing his cartoons through new outlets. He’s sent samples of his work to Creators Syndicate, and is waiting to hear back. In the meantime, he’s devoting time to painting and just taking one step at a time.

“I understand completely, and there are no bad feeling about the situation because it’s a business, that’s the way it goes,” Garner said.

“You’ve just got to roll with the punches.”