Marble Hill officials replace city attorney

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- Stephen P. Gray has been released as Marble Hill city attorney effective March 1, according to Mayor Russell Masterson.

The board of aldermen met in a special meeting Tuesday evening and voted unanimously to replace Gray with lawyer Alan Beussink. Alderman Joel Southwick was not present to vote.

Gray has been city attorney since March 1, 1993. He is also the Bollinger County prosecuting attorney.

Masterson said he informed Gray about a week ago that the action was forthcoming.

"It was not an easy choice for the board to make," Masterson said. "We don't want to leave the impression that there was something negative or that he had done something wrong. It was time for a change."

The mayor said aldermen had been talking to him and individually with each other, saying they wanted some new ideas from the city attorney. They decided to take official action Tuesday, he said, to make it easier for Beussink to start and follow through with the process it takes to get a sales tax increase on the ballot.

The board wants to put a sales tax increase on the August ballot to help increase city revenue. If it passes, city property taxes would be rolled back. The deadline for that is May 28. If the aldermen had waited until after the April election to appoint a new attorney, as is customary, Beussink would not have had enough time to get the issue on the ballot, Masterson said. Rather than have Gray start the process and Beussink finish it, the board decided to make the change before the new board was sworn in.

Beussink will earn $7,200 a year as city attorney, the same salary as Gray, Masterson said.

Attempts to reach Gray for comment Wednesday were unsuccessful.