Clarendon Aldermen terminate Little

City Administrator Lambert Little was terminated on a 3-1 vote by the Clarendon Board of Aldermen last Thursday, December 13.

Following a heated discussion between aldermen that elicited shouts and comments from the more than 20 citizens in attendance, Alderman Tommy Hill made the motion to terminate Little’s employment immediately and to compensate him for accumulated sick leave and vacation time. Alderman Jesus Hernandez seconded the motion, and Alderman Abby Patten joined in voting for the measure. Alderman Will Thompson voted in opposition.

Little then stood up, shook each alderman’s hand, boxed up his office, and left City Hall as the meeting continued.

Mayor Larry Hicks gave a statement to the Enterprise this week regarding the firing.

“I’m really sorry that it happened, but we are moving on and getting our feet on the ground,” Hicks said. “We will see that things get done, and the door is open if citizens want to come talk to us.”

It was standing room only at last week’s meeting as approximately 23 members of the public attended, including two former mayors and two former city aldermen.

Three people addressed the board prior to the meeting, including Joe Hall, former mayor Tex Selvidge, and Walt Knorpp.

Hall spoke out against micromanaging and in-fighting among the members of the board, and said Clarendon needs a city administrator.

“We hired this man. You hired this man. Let the man do his job,” Hall said.

Selvidge, who served as mayor longer than anyone in the city’s history, gave a lecture to the board based on his experience, including his time serving with Alderman Patten’s grandmother, the late Shirley Clifford, who he said was one of the best aldermen and mayors that Clarendon ever had.

“Y’all have a right to disagree,” Selvidge said. “Everyone of you have your own opinion, but when that vote is taken, dadgumit, let it be. And if the city administrator… if you can’t lead us, then maybe it’s time for you to look for another job. If you aldermen, if you can’t lead us, then maybe it’s time for you to get off and find someone who can.”

Selvidge said everyone is in this together and then warned the board not to appoint someone with an agenda to former alderman Terry Noble’s vacant position. He told everyone to vote their hearts, but when the majority has decided, to let it go and move on.

Walt Knorpp said he represented a group of businessmen who realized they had become remiss in attending the meetings of the city, the school, the college, and other boards, and he said those businessmen committed themselves to attending more of the local meetings.

“Each of these entities and the decisions they make will have an impact on the city as a whole and on each of our businesses whether it be directly or indirectly,” he said.

Knorpp then urged and requested the board to consider Clarendon native Sandy Skelton for Noble’s former position.

As the meeting progressed, the board took up appointing someone for the vacant seat, and Aldermen Thompson moved to appoint Skelton, but the motion failed for a lack of a second. The board then voted 3-1 to table consideration of this matter until the next meeting.

The board then began consideration of Little’s employment status with the city. Little was on a 90-day probation with the city following his annual evaluation by the board in October. Alderman Hill moved to go into executive session on this topic, but Little said he was comfortable staying in open session.

Discussion was opened by Hill who said the day to day operations were not being done “lawfully, efficiently, effectively, and ethically.”

Mayor Hicks stopped Hill and asked the alderman if he was saying that Little had broken laws. Hill recalled a time when bids were opened prior to the board meeting, but the mayor said the rules were followed.

Hill said he believed the law requires bids to be opened in front of the council and called for the city secretary to get the municipal law book, but he could not find the particular passage in the law book.

Hicks said in his time with the housing authority it was common for bids to be opened outside the presence of the housing authority board as long as the bid was not opened before the specified time.

“But that’s totally different,” Hill said. “That’s government money, and this is city… this is taxpayers’ money.”

Then Hill said to “forget the law part” and began criticizing Little for not getting out of the office more and also for using his personal laptop computer in his city office. Thompson interjected that he didn’t see the problem with that if he was using the laptop for city business because he (Thompson) uses his personal tablet computer for college business. Hill said Little was communicating with colleagues on the laptop, and Thompson said the administrator communicates with colleagues on city business and he was probably taking the laptop home and doing city work at home.

“William, you don’t see what’s going on,” Hill said to Thompson.

“I will admit I don’t tailgate the city employees or post myself at the local store to watch them go in and out of the City Barn,” Thompson said.

Patten then opened a line of discussion regarding comments in the community that people around town don’t want the city micromanaged but things aren’t being tended to. She also complained about comments made on Facebook, which prompted the mayor to say that she “needed to get some thicker skin.”

Patten responded, “Oh, I’m not the one who went to an alderman’s parents, but I’m the one who needs thicker skin?”

She then said that citizens concerns weren’t being addressed and particularly noted the elevator installed on the front of City Hall. Patten also questioned whether Little, under the city ordinances, could delegate his authority to hire and fire. Little said he felt like he did have that authority.

“I’m the boss,” Little said. “If I want to do that, that’s what I’m going to do. It’s a personnel issue, and that’s my deal.”

At one point in the discussion, the mayor asked for a show of hands from those in attendance who were in support of Little, and the majority raised their hands.

Hill said he keeps hearing that the board is micromanaging and said Little was the one micromanaging. The mayor responded that Little’s job is to manage. Hill then said if every citizen knew what was going on, “they would have a heart attack, but all they know is what they read in the paper.”

Patten said she agreed the city needs an administrator but that the city needs more communication and less riff raff between citizens.

Little then asked if he wasn’t the right man for the job, to let him go.

“Please just terminate me and put me out of my misery,” Little said, and Hill made the motion to do so.

The firing prompted outbursts from the public, and former alderman Ann Huey was recognized to speak by the mayor over the objections of Alderman Hill.

“I feel very strongly about what just happened,” Huey said. “It is a repeat of what we’ve already gone through. Who are we going to get in here to run this city? We have lost three city administrators because of this man (Hill) and the people he has complained to and who have supported him. It is disgraceful.”

In other city business, the board approved an agreement for tax collection services with the Donley County Appraisal District, approved a corrected contract with the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to manage the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax funds, approved the CEDC’s budget for those tax funds, authorized implementation of an emergency notification system through the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission, approved revisions to the employee policy manual, and canceled the next regular meeting scheduled for December 25.