'We may not be done losing': Valley Falls residents concerned with mayor's actions
VALLEY FALLS (KSNT) - Many Valley Falls community members are upset with the town's mayor.
Some of them believe Valley Falls Mayor Jeanette Shipley is the reason a few city employees are headed for the door. Valley Falls city clerk resigned last week and now, community members who are close to the city administrator believe she plans to do the same thing.
"She ran both of them out," previous Valley Falls mayor Lucy Thomas said of Shipley. "Very hostile work environment, micromanaged everything they did. Wanted to know what their schedule was from the minute they got here to the minute they went home. Just drove them crazy. I don't blame them one bit for quitting, but I am just sick that they're gone."
Thomas was the city's mayor before Shipley. She served a four-year term that ended in 2021, but she was with the city for a total of 16 years in various roles. The long-time Valley Falls resident attended Wednesday night's city council meeting to voice her concerns during public comment.
Valley Falls city council meetings are scheduled for the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at city hall, but when 27 News called city hall on Wednesday, the person who answered the phone said the meeting was cancelled.
Around 5:30 the later that afternoon, a citizen called 27 News to report the meeting would be back on for just an hour later at 6:30. Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA) states there is no minimum amount of time required to notify the public of a meeting, but that notice must me issued within a 'reasonable' time frame.
Thomas is not the only Valley Falls resident who attended the meeting out of her own concern for the community.
"Above all I just want our town to survive," Connie Fridley said. "And this is an extremely painful hit for us, and we may not be done losing. And that just depends on how our mayor decides to handle our town over the next few months."
Without a city clerk and a city administrator, someone currently on staff will have to handle utility bills, answer the phones, keep the office open, run city operations, etc. until replacements are hired.
Thomas said she hired both the city clerk and the city administrator during her term. She added that finding qualified individuals to fill those positions was a long and difficult process. Shipley has two years left of her term, but both Thomas and Fridley are calling on her to resign for the benefit of the town.
27 News asked Mayor Shipley for comment on this story and she declined.
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