By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — A member of the Neosho City Council has renewed her call to fire the city manager amid a contentious debate about whether she should be charged for copies of certain city records.

Councilwoman Heather Bowers had formally moved to fire City Manager Jan Blase in September, alleging there were discrepancies between what city officials told her last year or possibly in 2007 about whether Blase was receiving a car allowance. That motion died for lack of a second.

Bowers on Tuesday night suggested that the city fire Blase and use his salary to help provide additional city staff, including in the city clerk’s office, which has been gathering materials she has requested. She did not raise that suggestion as a formal motion during the council meeting, although that didn’t mean she wasn’t serious, she said.

“I am absolutely serious,” she told the Globe on Wednesday.

‘Destroy me professionally’

Meanwhile, both Blase and Bowers acknowledged that they have tape-recorded each other during one-on-one meetings in Blase’s office in the past few months.

Blase on Wednesday said he recorded one conversation just after Bowers’ effort to fire him in September, alleging that she has mounted a personal effort “to destroy me professionally.” He said — and Bowers confirmed to the Globe — that he taped the session openly with Bowers’ knowledge beforehand.

Bowers said that in recent months, she has spoken to Blase in his office more than the two times he cited, and that she has tape-recorded two of those conversations. She said she started recording them after Blase recorded the first meeting.

Blase has characterized Bowers’ criticism and accusations as increasingly personal.

“I think that has been obvious from the very beginning,” he said.

Bowers denies that the criticisms are personal. She said they pertain to Blase’s performance, which she criticized even before she was elected to the council in April. Those criticisms have included his management of contracts, including the work on the senior center last year and some of the work downtown. She also criticized the approval of code changes and the decision to close several railroad crossings.

Documents

Some of the tension spilled into Tuesday night’s discussion about whether Bowers should be charged for copies of city records, some going back 10 years. The council had previously instructed City Clerk Audrey Covey to bring requests for fee waivers to the council at her discretion.