A leak within the City of Alliance spurred discussion among Alliance City Council Members at a special meeting last Monday evening, debating whether they should launch an investigation into the leaks. At the meeting, Council Members also discussed the path forward after receiving the resignation of City Clerk Shelbi Pitt.
The Council opened the meeting by discussing the vacancy left by Pitt. Vice Mayor Tearza Mashburn read a statement, thanking Pitt for her diligent efforts while serving in the City Clerk role.
“Her 13 year career within City Hall grew her knowledge base and skill level, giving her the opportunity, with hard work, to advance to the position of City Clerk,” said Mashburn. “I feel as a City organization, we were extremely fortunate you had years of experience to help make the transition from the prior clerk the least disruptive to the city as possible. In my opinion, it was responsible of you, and shows your commitment to our city, that you offered your expertise, training and guidance to prevent any funding loss, slow RFPs, process for projects or needed equipment, transition critical relationships with other governmental agencies and grow employee support to name a few.
“A proposal, of a temporary nature, to help ensure departments and services were not greatly impacted, is a valid idea for council consideration for long term benefits to the city,” Mashburn said. “I would have liked to have been able to read and review this consideration before our citizens. I would have liked for the council to have a conversation together about the possible negative and needed benefits a consultant agreement could have provided. Unfortunately, the council was not allowed that consideration.”
Mashburn said that, since the first draft of the agreement information was leaked before the council had the opportunity to discuss it, they missed out on having a full discussion on the matter.
“This was a first draft, a possible, temporary solution, and was not a done deal as it has been rumored,” said Mashburn. “I am hopeful that the best solution will prevail and I am grateful for your dedication to the city and willingness to still be a resource if that direction is in the best interest of our city’s health.”
Council Member Jay Weisgerber explained that they have a protocol to follow, noting that the proposal that was leaked had not gone before council.
“We can’t talk if there’s more than three of us, so we can’t talk as a group,” said Weisgerber. “But the proposal was just that; it wasn’t anything that we had discussed or nothing, and that is what was leaked. And everybody is saying, ‘Well, you’re hiding stuff, and now they’re trying to cover their butts.’ That’s not what’s happening here. We hadn’t brought it up in front of council as a whole before we could bring it to you as a public. It was strictly a proposal. We weren’t trying to hide anything from you. It was something that had to be done according to our protocol. The information that was leaked out was confidential between the council, the attorney, Shelbi and the city manager. We weren’t trying to hide anything.”
Mayor John McGhehey explained that Pitt submitted her formal resignation, with her last day set for May 23. He shared his gratitude for all that Pitt has accomplished in her tenure, saying that she has been an asset to the City of Alliance.
“I mentioned in her review a couple weeks ago that she has helped me stay between the lanes a couple times when I forgot what my role is, so I want to thank her for that,” said McGhehey. “She had a very positive review from the council a couple weeks ago.”
McGhehey suggested opening the position both internally and externally at the same time, given the short period they have until Pitt is finished in the role. They agreed to advertise the position for two weeks. Council agreed to review applications as they come in.
More on this story will be published in next week’s edition of the Alliance Times-Herald.