Former Scott City administrator: 'I was forced to resign'

Former Scott City administrator Ron Eskew said during a Monday night city council meeting his recent resignation had been forced in what he said construed “wrongful termination.”

“I was forced to resign. I signed a letter of resignation that was prepared for me to sign; I never wrote it,” he said. “Or, I was told, I would be relieved of duties, and some information in a packet that was never disclosed to me would be brought out against me, and I was still going to be let go. I was leaving that day.”

His request for time to consider the demand was refused, and he still doesn’t know what the packet contains, he said.

“My pride took over,” he said, explaining why he signed the letter. “I’d never been fired from a job. Never.”

But he said he’s done nothing wrong and deserves two months of severance pay and 11 days of vacation pay he accrued in 2016.

Eskew served as Scott City administrator for more than 16 years.

The ouster stung, he said, especially because he’d helped uncover wrongdoing in City Hall in the first place.

Eskew said about early January, he reviewed city records looking for inappropriate use of the city’s credit card.

He said he identified one city employee using the credit card inappropriately who subsequently has been fired, though he declined to identify the person or say how much money had been misappropriated.

He said Mayor Ron Cummins asked him whether any more money was missing.

He told the mayor there wasn’t, he recalled.

“I didn’t resign amid an investigation,” he said. “I was the one who was helping lead it. Then I was told I would be let go.”

Eskew pointed out the city had allowed former city clerk Cindy Urhahn to be paid 9 1/2 vacation days when she also left her city employment earlier this month.

Cummins said Wednesday that Urhahn had been fired or resigned but declined to be more specific.

“Cindy Urhahn was allowed to receive 9 1/2 days vacation carry over, and I’ve heard that I authorized that. Do you have that in writing? Do you have that statement? I mean, I did not authorize that,” Eskew said.

Urhahn’s compensation for her carried-over vacation days may have been the result of a miscommunication.

Eskew said he relayed Urhahn’s request for the vacation pay to city clerks but did not authorize the request in writing with a signature and date, which he said always was part of such procedures.

“Everything I ever authorized I authorized in writing and dated it,” Eskew told the council.

The council appeared uncertain how Urhahn’s vacation-pay request had been granted, telling Eskew it had not been done on their orders.

Council members discussed a city ordinance that prohibits compensation for carried-over vacation days but is rarely, if ever, enforced.

Councilman Randy Morse eventually moved to grant Eskew’s request for the severance and vacation pay, which the council passed by a 5-2 vote.

Eskew’s compensation, according to the motion, depends on officials finding no evidence of wrongdoing on his part in the course of the ongoing investigation.

City attorney Frank Siebert said after the meeting the city council has passed a motion to have an accounting firm conduct an independent audit to identify possible wrongdoing, but the city has not contacted the Missouri State Auditor’s office.

Cummins said his main concern is looking out for the city.

“Once we get all of our stuff together for them, it’ll be turned over to the Scott County Prosecuting [Attorney’s] Office,” Cummins said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627