CITY BEAT UPDATE: RESIGNATION OF CITY MANAGER TIM GLEASON IS SHOCKING NEWS
Paul Osborne
Editor/Publisher
• SHOCK! I learned just before going to press on this week’s print edition of the Decatur Tribune that Decatur City Manager Tim Gleason had resigned from his position! (An update about his resignation is now published elsewhere on the site.)
It is no secret there has been a lot of pressure applied to Gleason by part of the council because he has not bought a home in Decatur within the alloted time of his contract’s language. A local real estate firm has indicated that he has been diligently searching for a permanent home.
Apparently, that was not the real reason that Gleason turned in his resignation, effective at the end of October. Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe told me earlier this week that Councilman David Horn had created a toxic workplace for the manager which resulted in Gleason’s decision, after much thought, to turn in his resignation.
I contacted Councilman David Horn to respond to the mayor’s statement regarding the toxic workplace she indicated Horn had created.
Horn stated: “I have no comment regarding references to me as toxic. For over eight years, I have been an open and transparent member of the Decatur City Council focused on improving quality of life for all Decatur residents. I am strongly committed to providing city residents with a voice and an opportunity to be heard. Residents should feel free to call or text me at 217-358-5003 or email me at [email protected]whenever they have a concern. I am honored and humbled that so many residents have reached out to me asking for assistance with issues that are impacting their day-to-day lives. I take very seriously the trust that residents have placed in me.
“Recently, I have been asked for help on issues such as dangerous driving, improving road safety, drug houses, dilapidated properties, and illegal burning. Rest assured, I am passing that information on to the appropriate city staff member, and I am assisting in any way that I can. I look forward to working with the mayor and my fellow city council members, the city manager and city staff, and our residents to make Decatur a better place and improve quality of life for all. Decatur is an amazing city, and I am proud to call Decatur home.”
When the city manager is feeling constant pressure from a councilman, or more than one member of the council, the atmosphere for productive moves forward, is impacted — especially if the pressure comes from a lot of unnecessary paperwork, not only for the manager but his staff.
How many qualified city manager applicants, with the experience of Gleason, are out there? If they are out there, are they looking at Decatur as a highly desired place to be in that position — or will pass us by?
Tim Gleason
As a former mayor, with experience in dealing with pressure on the city manager in my years in office — finding a city manager that will be supported by the entire council for any period of time, is a challenge.
I realize I’m an editor on the outside looking in, but, as mayor for years I was on the inside looking out — and dealing with the “politics” of the city council/city manager relationship was extremely exhausting.
I like Tim, and he has always been very easy to talk with anytime I needed to talk with him on city issues.
Best wishes to Tim.
He certainly has been appreciated by many Decatur residents.
Best wishes also, to the mayor and council, in getting through the months and issues ahead — and finding a new highly-qualified city manager.
• THANKS so much to the late Mayor Mike “Tuna” McElroy’s brother, Patrick, for coming to the newspaper office and gifting me a special very large framed layout of the recent “City Beat” and “Viewpoint” columns I wrote about Tuna and our friendship over the years.
As most of you know, Tuna and I were elected to the city council at the same time. Tuna was elected councilman and I was elected mayor and we developed a very strong bond over the years that we served together.
That bond remained strong after I left the mayor’s office and Tuna was elected mayor.
It’s so hard to believe that Tuna has been gone for 10 years! I still miss talking to him about the city we both love.
Thanks, again, Pat, for bringing that special gift to the Tribune. It will hang on a wall in my office where I will see it every day.
• DARK DAY — The assassination of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist, at a Utah college event last week was beyond tragic.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said: “This is a dark day for our state. It’s a tragic day for our nation.”
The 31-year-old Kirk left his wife and two young children and other family members and countless friends, even President Donald Trump, to mourn his passing.
As you know, a 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, was arrested and booked on murder charges for the assassination of Kirk, last Friday.
There was a time when such a tragic event would have brought Americans together in a united front of sadness, shock and resolve for the nation.
It seems to me the assassination of this young man because of his political beliefs, and the beliefs of the man accused of killing him, speak volumes about the road our nation is heading down with a destination that could ultimately destroy the America we hold dear.
This is a very difficult time in our history.
• I JOIN Brian Byers on WSOY’s Byers & Co. every Thursday morning at 7:00 for the “City Hall Insider”.
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