By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
NEOSHO, Mo. — Neosho City Council members remained mum Monday about whether they voted to fire suspended City Manager Jan Blase, although they confirmed that Blase returned a city vehicle in his possession.
A copy of an e-mail dated Feb. 17 from City Attorney Steve Hays to Blase’s legal counsel stated that “should the council pass a final resolution of termination, Mr. Blase should be prepared to leave the city truck he is currently in possession of as well as all credit cards and any other items belonging to the city of Neosho currently in his possession.”
Blase’s attorney left open the possibility of litigation in the future.
Blase, who was suspended with pay in late January after a preliminary council vote to fire him, was expected to mount a case for reinstatement during a hearing Monday afternoon before the City Council.
Litigation
But the hearing lasted only a few minutes, with one of Blase’s attorneys, Richard D. James, of Miami, Okla., contending that the hearing could not properly proceed because the city was withholding documents Blase had requested. James publicly renewed requests for those documents, which he argued were necessary for a hearing that would be “meaningful” and conducted with “due process.”
Hays, acting as the council’s legal counsel, said the city would not be releasing those documents in part because Blase’s legal representation had already referred to potential litigation on the matter. He also said neither City Council members nor city staff members would be subjected to questioning.
“Mr. Mayor, it is our position that we cannot conduct a hearing under these restrictions, nor do we believe the law requires us to,” James told Mayor Jeff Werneke, just before he, Blase and another attorney left the hearing.
The council members adjourned into closed session afterward, then declined to divulge the vote they took during that session. They did say that they attempted to reach Blase after the hearing, apparently unsuccessfully, while his attorney requested that the council’s vote be communicated to him in writing.
James after the hearing told the Globe that he had sought copies of documents on which the council relied when it voted Jan. 25 to place Blase on paid suspension pending the final outcome of removal proceedings. James said he also sought copies of witnesses’ statements.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” he said when asked if litigation could be filed.
During the brief hearing, James said the proceeding was not about Blase “beseeching for reinstatement” but about “why he should not have been removed to start with.”
Hays had countered that Blase and his attorneys had received a copy of the preliminary council resolution to fire Blase, dated Jan. 25, listing three reasons why the council took the vote that it did. Blase, Hays said, could address those issues during the hearing.
Hays afterward told the Globe that some of the documents Blase requested had “been in the news” for some time before his suspension and that he had access to those documents beforehand.
‘Ambivalent’
Several members of the council, including Werneke and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Davidson, declined to comment on Monday’s hearing.
Werneke has never delved into specifics as to why the council tentatively voted on Jan. 25 to fire Blase, although he did say that vote came in response to growing residents’ concerns about Blase’s ability to lead. The motion itself cited a lack of confidence in Blase’s ability to discharge his duties.
Hays said the council’s preliminary resolution could be released to the public.
Blase did not speak during the hearing. Immediately after the hearing, he referred questions to his attorneys. When reached for comment at his home Monday night, he said he had not received word about how the council voted.
“I’m kind of ambivalent about that right now,” he said when asked if he wished to return to work as Neosho’s city manager.
Asked if he planned to remain in Neosho regardless, he replied, “I’m going to have to go where I can find a job.”
Still to be answered is whether Blase would be entitled to any severance pay, and if so how much.
Blase’s most recent contract, dated August 2007 and set to expire July 31 of this year, calls for nine months of salary if he is fired without cause before the expiration of that contract. The current budget calls for him to receive an annual salary of $105,470, after factoring in an across-the-board pay cut for all employees.
Blase also could be entitled to 12 months of health insurance under certain circumstances.
He would forfeit severance pay if he is convicted “of any illegal act involving personal gain,” according to the contract. Blase has said he never did anything for personal gain while he was city manager.
He and former Finance Director Bob Blackwood were charged earlier this month with misdemeanor official misconduct in connection with the transfer of $204,666 in hotel and motel tax revenue into the city’s general fund, which is used to finance most city operations.
Business at hand
Asked for any general comments after Monday’s hearing, the mayor said he is “ready to continue addressing the real issues,” referring to the city’s financial straits.
Despite a round of budget cuts last year entailing layoffs and pay cuts, Blase last month said the city needed to borrow up to $1.625 million, cut an additional $300,000 from the budget and perhaps restore a property tax, to stave off insolvency.
The city’s fund for general operations had already borrowed from a state loan earmarked for construction of new airplane hangars, as well as from the hotel and motel tax fund, water and sewer revenue, and city sales taxes owed the tax increment financing district.
No settlement?
In a Feb. 17 e-mail from City Attorney Steve Hays to Jan Blase’s attorneys, Hays stated that the “council is not of the mindset to agree to any settlement proposals.” The e-mail was provided to the Globe by Blase’s attorneys.
