The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

The City Council held a special meeting to deliberate on the budget. It seems they need to manipulate their finances to provide funds to remunerate a new city manager. It appears they don’t want to duplicate functions so they decided to eliminate the position of Assistant City Manager Joy Rushing.

Until they are able to negotiate with their candidate and consummate a contract, the city will lack professional managerial staff. Back in January, the City Council decided to arrogate unto itself the responsibility for day-to-day operation of the city, a situation that has entered its fourth month. Logically, one would contemplate trying to facilitate a transition period to assimilate and indoctrinate the new city manager; the council apparently doesn’t agree with continuity.

As a property owner and taxpayer, I can but speculate why it was necessary to take this action only 3 days before Jim Davis departed the Council after voters decided to truncate his service by electing Charles Rutt. If the financial situation is so dire as to make the decision obvious, the new council member should have had no difficulty reaching the same decision.

When former city manager Jim Landon communicated his resignation, a rumor insinuated that the council wanted to assume actual operation of the city, despite the requirements of RSMo 78-570 and 78-600 & 78-610. When the Council articulated that it would allocate management to itself during the search period instead of acting to designate an interim manager, not a few eyebrows were elevated. We can but hope that the rumor was false and that they did not dissimulate, fabricate or obfuscate the reason for their decision to suddenly terminate a knowledgeable employee.

Only time will validate the wisdom of their decision to attenuate the service of a dedicated individual in order to speculate on a new individual. At the present time, I am more inclined to commiserate with Joy Rushing.

Original Draft:

The lame duck City Council held a special meeting on Friday and “downsized” Assistant City Manager Joy Rushing. Officially, they eliminated her position to save money so they can afford to hire a new city manager. While under Missouri law they have an absolute right to terminate employees (as long as they comply with anti-discrimination laws), the timing of this action raises distinct questions

The city now lacks any professional managerial staff, since the Council has not hired a satisfactory city manager willing to work for what the city wanted to pay. The City Council is entering its fourth month of assuming responsibility for day-to-day operation of the city. Logically, one would think it desirable to have a transition period between the hiring of a new city manager and the elimination of the assistant position; the council apparently doesn’t agree with this logic.

As a property owner and taxpayer, I wonder why it was necessary to take this action only 3 days before Jim Davis left the Council after losing his seat to Charles Rutt. If the financial situation is so dire as to make the decision obvious, the new council member should have had no difficulty reaching the same decision.

Back when former city manager Jim Landon announced his resignation, a rumor started floating around that the council wanted to assume actual operation of the city, despite the requirements of RSMo 78-570 and 78-600 & 78-610. When the Council announced that it would allocate management to itself during the search period instead of appointing an interim manager, a few eyebrows were raised, but the council assured the citizens they would proceed diligently to hire a new manager. It appears they’ve proceeded with “all deliberate speed” and it’s now possible to question their diligence and their intentions.

If the Council next decides to repeal the term limits voted by an earlier council, we will know that we are in fact watching an attempted coup against the city charter.