Special Fairhope City Council Meeting Called

Fairhope, Alabama

Update(2): At this meeting, the city council voted to impose a 60-day hiring freeze; no citizen comments were allowed.

Update: In fairness to all involved, although we have yet to receive any objections to them, the Times has decided to disable comments posted by our readers for the time being until more facts become available. All we have now are the statements from the mayor and council member Burrell, the announcement of the special meeting tomorrow, and the post made by former mayor Kant that first-revealed the matter Friday afternoon -- as well as personal observations from last Thursday's council meeting.

We do not know yet if public comments will be allowed or if the special meeting will be televised.






TO DISCUSS "PERSONNEL ACTIONS" BY THE MAYOR

A special city council meeting has been called for tomorrow at 12 noon to discuss Emlpoyee/Personnel actions, according to the notice.

Update: A 'hiring freeze' will also be discussed, according to other media reports.

Also, the mayor informed the Times last Thursday she had already selected an Operations Director.

Council President Burrell responded to an e-mail inquiry we sent yesterday:

"The council was not notified of any specific reason for their termination. We only received an email after the fact that Sherry Sullivan was no longer with the city. We heard nothing officially about Jennifer, however, I spoke to her via phone Friday afternoon after hearing of such, and she confirmed that she had been terminated.  I do not know where her employment with the city stands as of right now.  Your comment about the city Council being instructed not to speak of the matter may be inaccurate. I have not been notified of anyone to not speak of this.   I cannot speak for the other councilmembers, but to my knowledge, they have not been told that either."





Comments

Anonymous said…
She would be wise to re-hire them before then. This has Ripp and Mosher's fingerprints al over it! :(
Anonymous said…
Mayor Wilson is capable of making decisions on her own. Give her some time. Let her do her job.
Anonymous said…
This is just more grandstanding by Burell to get his picture on Tv, the mayor is in charge of all personnel except for the police chief, treasurer and clerk, not the council.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
We can not just throw these good people away like trash after ten or twenty years of loyal service. It can not stand.
Anonymous said…
Years of service is not relevant. The council does not hire nor fire department heads. Mayor does.
Anonymous said…
No it does not
Anonymous said…
Will the public get a chance to speak about it to?
Anonymous said…
Are these employees Merit or appointed ? I hope someone is looking at the Alabama Code/Municipalities to determine by what authority they were terminated. It is not unusual for a new administration to "clean house" and place his or her supporters in various positions. There is good reason to re-evaluate these terminations given the long service by each employee. However, if the Mayor feels they are working against her plans for the city she may have no choice. Lets face it, 18 years in office for our last mayor must leave some unwanted baggage behind. Bottom line, follow the law.
Anonymous said…
Thanks again to all you arrogant Rock Creekers who brought this down upon us.
I understand one of you is on the payroll now......
Anonymous said…
Exactly.
Publisher said…
Our understanding is that the Public will be allowed to speak, at the discretion of the council president.
Anonymous said…
To the best of my knowledge, department heads — and there are 14 of them – serve at the pleasure of the mayor. In other words, they are political appointees. It's no different than President Obama bringing in his people and getting rid of all the old Bush people. Mayor Wilson could have made an announcement prior to her taking office that she wanted the resignation of all 14, but she chose to get to know them first and then make her decision concerning who to keep and who to let go. The fact that they worked with the city for a long time has everything to do with the fact that Fairhope had 40 years of the same Nix/Kant administration. She has a right to bring in her own people, regardless of who was in the positions previously. Let her do the job that we elected her to do.
Anonymous said…
If the mayor does not want them any more in their usual job can new positions be created for them somewhere else? Seems like a good compromise to me?
Anonymous said…
Having a right to do something don't make it right.
Anonymous said…
Thanks again to you. WTF are you talking about? Rock Creek is its own city perhaps? Have you been reading the other blog as real news, the Fairhope Inquisitor?
Anonymous said…
Rock Creekers....lol
Anonymous said…
The elite Rock Creekers have been claiming credit for the outcome of the election ... until now that is.
Anonymous said…
Creating new positions for them seems to be the reasonable thing to do.
If any reason is left here.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
This is no different than what is going on in Washington.
Trump doesn't want the Russian connection investigated so he throws something out to distract your attention.
Burrell doesn't want the airport situation investigated so he's throwing out red meat to distract you.

Pay attention, ignore the alternative facts and focus on what is in front of your face.
.

Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
We all need to rally behind our mayor to battle the ol boy system before they make a comeback.
Anonymous said…
A shame Crazy Karin has to show boat and be a bully by terminating two highly knowledgeable employees! I guess Karin needs to start the firing line for all the city employees that ever worked for Kant!!!! Crazy!!!!!!
Publisher said…
Repetitious comments will not be published.
Anonymous said…
I voted for her and I'm ashamed!!!! Won't EVER happen again, she is out of control and getting horrible advice from Mosher and Ripp! Are they now on the payroll for all this horrible advice they are giving??!!!!!!!
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Pretty sure Mosher is not on the payroll. Do you know if he sat in on the meetings? If you were not there don't speculate.
Anonymous said…
Jack's sitting back like the Cheshire Cat and enjoying all this I bet.
Going to get his fat face on TV agin.
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
Everyone should listen to the workshops and meetings streamed live or via YouTube to see what really happens. They are posted under "City of Fairhope" on YouTube. One can sign up on the City's Website to receive notifications of the live streaming meetings or meeting videos when uploaded to YouTube. It is a real eye-opener to watch the meetings in their entirety from the beginning of this new administration. Prayers for our beloved Fairhope and its dedicated employees. And, thank you Fairhope Times for keeping us posted on these sad events.
Anonymous said…
Whoa! They better move this meeting to the civic center. Never seen people here this mad before. Is it going to be televised?
Anonymous said…
Ya'll ought to wait and give Karin. a chance to explain it.

This is not like her at all.
Anonymous said…
"Our understanding is that the Public will be allowed to speak, at the discretion of the council president."

THIS ^^ will be a disaster. The public should have no input into city employee personnel matters other than to vote.




Anonymous said…
"We can not just throw these good people away like trash after ten or twenty years of loyal service. It can not stand."

Really????

Corporations do it all of the time.

What if there is theft or other improper activity? You think the city should just keep them on and let them collect a pension and healthcare benefits at the expense of the taxpayers???

Ya'll act like this is a beauty pageant.
Publisher said…
Regular meetings have been streamed live on the city's website and Facebook page; we don't know if this special one will be.
Anonymous said…
I know both women to be highly professional and qualified. I wish that Mayor Wilson would have worked with these ladies a little while before letting them go. She is inexperienced while these ladies are very knowledgeable. She could have gleamed important information from these ladies. It is so sad that people can't work together for the betterment of our beautiful city of Fairhope.
Anonymous said…
What about Boon? He
is supposed to be the former Mayors'
campaign manger for 2020.
Anonymous said…
Every employee has worked under Nix or Kant. So does that mean she can fire everyone?
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
They are hiring a utility director. So I guess thus person will organize the senior citizens nix center schedule and ball games? That is what Sherry did, organized events. Two $150,000 salaries to organize almost twice what anyone has ever made in the city. That does not seem like a smart desion
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
That's not what I have heard from former employees at the book store. Screams and hollers then embarrasses the person in front of shoppers.
Anonymous said…
She did not allow the one Friday with the employees about taking insurance and raises.
Anonymous said…
I wonder if any of the Creekers will show up tomorrow.
Anonymous said…
No, was the son not Kevin
Anonymous said…
Mayor always promised to listen to citizens. Well I think she hears us. Whatever happened should, have been handled in a better way.
Anonymous said…
Yes. Because the wrinkle ranch and ball games are mission critical....
Anonymous said…
I heard they were escorted out by police. They had a whistleblowers telling in them. Something stuck...they're gone.
Anonymous said…
The people really responsible for the current situation are the former mayor and some of the council members. Their refusal to listen to the concerns of many citizens of Fairhope, and to often not act on behalf of the best interests of the city is what resulted in the election of a new mayor. They thought that the "dynasty" was indestructible. As unfair as it may seem, political appointees' jobs are always at stake when there's a changing of the guard. So for those looking to place blame, look at the previous administration.
Publisher said…
Speculation about what may or may not have happened won't be published.
Anonymous said…
Sounds like everybody just needs to take a timeout

and maybe some group therapy.
Anonymous said…
For this debacle to have reached this level only proves that Karin Wilson is right! There must be a lot of skeletons in a lot of closets in Fairhope's government. To those of you who are slamming 'crazy Karin', you should think about the fact that Tim Kant misappropriated utility funds to his pet projects (while now we may have a new sewer treatment plant but we have no way to get the sewerage TO the plant). Jack Burrell and Kant are in such attack mode that I truly believe that, while inexperienced in government, Karin Wilson is so on the right track in exposing their lies/fraud. Please get behind our new Mayor at least until the swamp is drained a bit more. No one fights back this much unless they are in fear of death (Jack Burrell is terrified of having to work for a living)! Tim Kant promised him that he would make Jack the King in 4 years………not surprisingly, Fairhope told them to take a hue!
Anonymous said…
"To the best of my knowledge, department heads — and there are 14 of them – serve at the pleasure of the mayor. In other words, they are political appointees."

Whoever posted this is in for a shock - if this is true, if they are political appointees, when the mayor fires them, the by state law the city council must be notified as to why and the council can actually override the mayor's firing.

Here's why, the positions, if they are appointed, it must be approved by the council, and if positions are approved by the council then the council must concur with the firings. So, the mayor needs to pray the individuals fired were not political appointees, if they were, the council must concur with the removal.

That is state law!

Opps...