A city employee was suspended five days without pay during a special call meeting of the Indianola Board of Aldermen last Wednesday.
Willie McGuire was suspended after an over one-hour long session that seemed to be primarily focused on him.
The meeting was called late Wednesday afternoon to address issues that were discussed behind closed doors in executive session.
The E-T was present at the meeting, and the aldermen and Mayor Steve Rosenthal engaged in a spirited discussion for over an hour.
All were present for the meeting, and after a motion and vote were taken to come out of executive session, Alderman Marvin Elder made a motion to suspend McGuire without pay for three days.
Alderman Gary Fratesi then made a supplemental motion to suspend him for five days without pay, which was seconded by Alderman Darrell Simpson.
The vote passed 3-2, with Elder and Alderman Sam Brock voting nay.
“The citizens deserve for city employees to do their job,” Rosenthal told The E-T in a comment about the vote. “When they don’t, the board needs to take action. I was glad to see that the board did their job.”
The E-T contacted McGuire prior to press time, and he declined to comment for this story.
The E-T learned after last week’s meeting that McGuire had filed a criminal complaint against a city official, which was filed through Sunflower County Justice Court.
The E-T was not able to confirm who the official is, due to the fact that the court refused to give any documents related to the case to The E-T.
The E-T sent a written request for any public documents related to the criminal affidavit to Justice Court Judge Gwendolyn Pernell and Justice Court Clerk Patricia Strong.
The paper also requested a copy of the judge’s order to seal the case, which is required if the judge deems the case needs to be closed to the public.
This was hand delivered to Strong last Friday, and as of press time on Wednesday, The E-T had not received any response to the requests.
