The latest person to occupy the city manager’s office is gone in record time.
Larry Mitchell was hired as part-time interim city manager on May 7 at a salary of $60 an hour for a 30-hour week. He took over on May 14.
At Monday night’s monthly city council meeting, the council voted to terminate the contract that had been signed with Mitchell and his representative Oklahoma Municipal Management Services (OMMS) and Eufaula.
He was on the job fewer than three weeks.
“We need someone who is here all the time. He was here 2 ½ days a week,” said Ward 2 Councilman Roger Burton. “That was part of the issue.”
Vice Mayor Tisha Morgan declined to comment and referred questions to City Attorney Kay Wall.
“OMMS recalled him. Beyond that, I have no comment,” she said.
Mayor James Hickman and Councilman Todd Warren were absent.
Morgan said City Clerk/Treasurer Valerie Cox is temporarily filling the vacancy until another interim or a full-time city manager can be hired.
“We have never stopped looking,” Cox said.
Morgan praised Cox. “She’s doing a great job,” she said.
Mitchell replaced interim city manager Andrea Weckmueller-Berhinger, who resigned on May 9 to accept a city manager’s job in Ennis, Texas.
She had been hired on March 3 as a temporary replacement for City Manager Jeb Jones, who resigned effective April 12.
Jones was hired in 2022 to replace Jacob Foos.
Other Business
Main Street, AKA SH 9, soon will be getting a makeover.
Oklahoma Department of Transportation engineer Chris Wallace told the city council at its meeting Monday night that work will begin near the concrete plant sometime after Labor Day, September 1, and continue through much of December, ending before Christmas at the Selmon Road intersection.
“We will update the two signals,” Wallace said.
Wallace also told the council that the speed limit in front of the elementary and middle school complex will be reduced to 25 mph during school hours.
In other business, the council approved a $17 million budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
