Montrose - Daily Press

Robert Allen

Daily Press Writer

OLATHE — Former Olathe Mayor Pro-Tem Woody Palmer took the oath of office for mayor Monday evening at the town board meeting.

Advertisement

“I appreciate the opportunity to serve,” Palmer said.

He was not present at the previous meeting March 26 when Mayor Wayne Blair resigned.

The board voted in Trustee Dan Kelso to take the mayor pro-tem position. An announcement followed stating a trustee position is open and interested Olathans are encouraged to apply.

During public comment, Palmer made an announcement regarding the former director of operations who resigned in November.

“Bill Sale had a heart attack on Saturday and is in St. Mary’s hospital at this time, and Bill Sale was a director of our operations here for many years and it’s a very sad moment for us,” Palmer said. “I’d just like to send out condolences from the town.”

Following the announcement, the board agreed to send flowers and a card to Sale.

The board considered a resolution for an organizational restructure of the town that was similar to the current situation, with no town administrator or director of operations position.

Trustee Linda Steele said she would prefer to table this resolution to give the board time to discuss it with Town Attorney Susan Baker.

Baker said it is fine for the board to discuss the matter publicly so long as individual interests are not discussed.

“I would like to talk about it. I think it’s a good time. Our little town’s had some hard times lately and it’s spring and it’s time to move forward,” Palmer said.

During the discussion, Trustee Lou Cooper said the town does not have the finances to hire an administrator at this time.

Kelso said he agreed.

It was pointed out that the town has not yet hired a parks manager to replace Don Perkins, who resigned last month.

The board decided to table the resolution until after its retreat, which was later scheduled for April 17 at 2 p.m.

During board comments, Kelso read a prepared speech regarding the losses of eight town board and staff members, including the mayor, in the past year. He said media coverage has been “very far-fetched from the truth.”

“We do not have a so called hit list. Our intentions were not to run employees out of the town. I was elected to this board to oversee the town’s operations and making sure the best interest of the town’s citizens,” Kelso said.

“The mere fact that a person has left does not mean that the board has run them out of town. In fact, employees have made their own decisions to resign based upon their personal decisions to do so. We did not ask anyone for their resignation and we certainly have not fired anyone,” he said.

“I wish the newspapers would be more professional. They seem to be interested in slinging the mud,” he said. “I wonder if they’re even interested in the truth, or if they even care about reporting the facts. It is my wish that the newspaper will report the whole truth, not just pick and choose the quotes they want to make the story.”

Kelso also made reference to a recent investigation of the town government through the town’s insurance company. The investigation was triggered by allegations from concerned citizens, including Perkins.

“The investigations with allegations made were taken very seriously and I am very confident that you will find that although you may not agree the results, in the outcome of the investigation no board member here has violated the law,” he said.

After the comment, Richard Harding voiced a question regarding the speech.

“Can I get a copy of that letter? And I’m assuming the board will answer questions related to that letter if they’re presented to the board?” he said.

Baker said that she would like to be present if they decided to answer questions.

In other news, the board considered a resolution regarding applications for donations to charitable organizations to be submitted in October of the year before they were needed. The resolution would also create a committee to consider the awards.

Steele said the language of the resolution would make it difficult for emergency situations in which the applicant wasn’t aware of the need for a donation in advance.

“There’s a difference between an organization that knows it’s gonna need money and just fails to come in and an organization that has something come up. So it was just my thought to give us an out and not be bound by that,” Steele said.

The board approved the resolution, after it was tabled for revision the previous meeting, with an amendment allowing donation requests after the deadline in emergency situations.

Contact Robert Allen via e-mail at roberta@montrosepress.com

Comments

marqthompson wrote on Feb 1, 2010 3:21 AM:

" This is a wonderful article. The things given are unanimous and needs to be appreciated by everyone.
--------
marqthompson
Noosa real estate "




Report Abuse

Kaitlyn Heichel wrote on Nov 3, 2009 2:01 PM:

" My dad was Robert Heichel and i just wanted to thank again everyone that helped looked for him. It was over 3 years ago that he died, but i will never forget him. I think about him still every single day and life without him is so hard. Thank you everyone who spent time looking for him. I wish this could have been a happy ending but life isn't fair. My dad died when i was 12 and i am now almost 16. Thank you again for everything you guys have done. Your amazing. "




Report Abuse

Sarah Bond wrote on Jul 13, 2009 5:31 PM:

" It really makes me sick that people lie about certain events to make themselves look better than they really are... Just to set the record straight, one of those stories is extremely false. Email me if you want the real story from the person who was actually there. "




Report Abuse