Town manager claims councilmember sent man to her home seeking "hook up"

Got a crazy story out of Virginia. A town manager claims an elected official was responsible for the dude who showed up at her doorstep looking for a good time.

In North Carolina, a town manager was fired “for cause” by the new council just weeks after getting a raise and a contract extension by the old council.

In South Carolina, a town has blocked a resident from their Facebook page and he is suing.

And a bombshell report alleging that city staff waived $5 million in late fee penalties on a water treatment plant is roiling a Midwest city where the mayor used to be a local news anchor.

All that and more after the job listings.

It is free to post all of your senior and executive level recruitments over at the AAME job board. If you would like to include them in this newsletter, select the $199 option.

Mineral Town Manager Nicole Washington was abruptly terminated “for cause” right after the Pledge of Allegiance on a 4-3 vote. The motion was made by David “Scooter” Hempstead who rolled his chair over and momentarily blocked Washington from accessing her office to gather her things before law enforcement interceded.

Hempstead’s wife sent a 2,071-word email calling Washington a “sociopathic grifter” and claimed that she was abusing her authority by granting building permits to her husband.

The story gets even more bizarre.

Washington alleged that some stranger showed up to her doorstep looking to “hook up” with her — but was thwarted when her husband answered the door. She blames the Hempsteads for sending Casanova over to her home.

“This breaks my heart; I’m embarrassed for my town tonight,” Councilmember Covert said

This story is a wild read.

On December 10th, the Sunset Beach town council voted unanimously to fire the administrator and attorney.

On November 3rd, a day before the election in which four new councilmembers were elected and what was the last meeting of the sitting council, the town administrator was given a contract extension with a raise and 24-months of severance protection if terminated without cause during the next twelve months.

No reasons were given for the "for cause" termination and it is unclear if the town administrator is planning to file a lawsuit as a result.

A week ago, the Wichita Eagle dropped a bombshell when it reported that city staff had quietly waived up to $5 million in late fee penalties for the water treatment facility that is more than a year behind schedule and is expected to take another year to complete due to a design flaw.

Mayor Lily Wu, a former reporter and news anchor in Wichita, has been on the warpath seeking answers from the new city manager, Dennis Marstall, who started on December 31st. He has asked to have the conversations behind closed doors “so it’s not misconstrued in the public” and also criticized the largest news outlet.

Wu has balked as the suggestion and is demanding that it be discussed in public.

“I don’t believe it’s right for this council to be thrown under the bus when we were not advised, or we were not pointed out, that what we were going to be signing was going to be taking away something off the table,” Wu said. “I don’t believe that my colleagues are to blame for this. Therefore, I do expect someone to tell me who is to blame for that and who did not advise us, because that’s not fair to this council, it’s not fair to each of these individuals who does work hard and does read their packets and does question.

Tough way to start a new gig after relocating from out-of-state.