Mayor: Poplar Bluff city manager fired

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- It appears the Poplar Bluff City Council fired city manager Heath Kaplan, but it continued Thursday to withhold information on the terms of that decision.

No details have been released about what votes were taken Tuesday in a special closed session or whether Kaplan will be paid a severance package.

An unsigned copy of Kaplan's contract, which was provided to the Daily American Republic by the city, states he could receive as much as $40,000 in severance pay if he is not fired for "good cause." Good cause would include charges or the investigation of a violation of a law.

Assistant city manager Mark Massingham will serve as interim city manager, council members said. The council has not determined when or whether it will begin a search for a new city manager.

The DAR filed an official Sunshine Law request Thursday morning for all action taken during the Tuesday closed session and for Kaplan's contract, which is a matter of public record, but had not received a response by press time.

Council members have said they are acting under the advice of the city's St. Louis attorneys.

Mayor Betty Absheer issued a short statement Wednesday.

"On May 12, 2015, the City Council voted to terminate its employment contract with city manager Heath Kaplan," she said. "The council made the decision based on the best interests of the city of Poplar Bluff and Heath Kaplan. The council is eager to move forward and to continue to serve the needs of the community."

Kaplan is the second city manager to be fired in just over a year. Former city manager Doug Bagby was fired in May 2014 after 11 years on the job.

The council voted in August to hire Kaplan on a one-year contract.

Kaplan's employment was terminated at the agreement of both the council and Kaplan, Mayor Pro Tem David Johnson and council member Jack Rushin said Thursday.

"The basis of it was a mutual agreement by Mr. Kaplan and elements of the council to come to an agreement for him to go his way and us to go our way," Rushin said, adding later, "I think he got a lot of stuff accomplished."

Rushin credited Kaplan with resolving issues with the city's health-insurance fund and making the public aware of losses in the municipal utilities department.

"He thought his effectiveness from this point on would be limited, given the environment," Rushin said.

Kaplan was hired by the council for his knowledge and skill, but ultimately, "he just didn't fit in," Johnson said.

"It was in the best interest of the citizens that we did this," he said. "It wasn't going to get any better."

Johnson acknowledged Kaplan acted on matters without asking for the council's permission and said Kaplan should have stayed away from dealings with contractors from his former employments in Texas and Michigan.

"We couldn't continue like we were," Johnson said. "He lost the confidence of the people of the town, and I didn't think he would ever get it back."

Newly elected council member Philip Crocker said he heard many times during his campaign in Ward 4 the public was unhappy with Kaplan.

"He wasn't really engaged with the city as far as I'm concerned," he said. "That's one of the reasons why the vote went the way it did."

The city and majority of the residents wanted this, council member Ed DeGaris said, adding he had been contacted by hundreds of area residents.

"I'm just glad that he's gone," he said. "We'll see a difference in the attitude, I think, of the citizens toward city government now."

Johnson, Crocker and many of the council members said the community needs to begin to heal and focus its attention on the needs of the city.

"We have a lot of issues that we need to tackle," Crocker said. "We can't do that if we don't heal."