Palmer City Council drops proposed investigation into actions of ousted city manager

What you need to know:

• An investigation into former Palmer City Manager Stephen Jellie and his actions while employed by the city will not go forward following a vote Tuesday by the Palmer City Council. 
• The council voted to indefinitely table the investigation, with some members saying pursuing it would unnecessarily call into question the integrity of city staff, distract from current business and yield no actionable results because the separation agreement between the city and Jellie prevents any legal action.
• Jellie resigned from the city in early October after a 53-day tenure marked by allegations of labor law violations and proposed public safety budget cuts. He received a $75,000 payout, his third severance agreement in two years following similar departures from Ogdensburg, New York, and Jackson, Wyoming.

PALMER — The Palmer City Council on Tuesday voted to indefinitely postpone an investigation into the actions of former City Manager Stephen Jellie, effectively ending the effort.

The proposed investigation aimed to examine the circumstances surrounding Jellie’s hiring, his interactions with city staff and City Attorney Sarah Heath, and the issues that led to his resignation, Palmer Mayor Carrington said during the meeting. The goal was to identify mistakes that could be avoided in the future, Carrington said.

But council members argued that an investigation would unnecessarily question the integrity of city staff, distract from current business and yield no actionable results because the separation agreement between the city and Jellie prevents any legal action.

“I think we can all see the effects of him being a manager in our city. We don’t need an investigation to see what needs to be fixed or worked on — we already see the problems,” Council member Carolina Graver, formerly Anzilloti, said during the meeting. “I don’t see a need for further investigation into someone when the results are already clear.”

Jellie resigned in early October after a tumultuous 53-day tenure marked by allegations of labor law violations and rumors of planned cuts to the city’s public safety budget. He received a $75,000 payout as part of his separation agreement. It was his third such departure from a city in less than two years, with previous payouts totaling $200,000 following resignations in Ogdensburg, New York, and Jackson, Wyoming.

The council voted 6-1 to table further discussion of an investigation. Council member Richard Best voted no.

Carrington first proposed the investigation in late October. The council opted to delay consideration and instead ordered a review of nearly 600 emails that Jellie deleted during his employment.

Council member Joshua Tudor requested that review as a matter of “due diligence,” he said in an interview Monday. The deleted emails ultimately did not reveal anything of serious concern, he said.

Jellie’s hiring and resignation have been a source of controversy and public infighting among council members since his Oct. 9 departure.

Best said the ongoing dispute underscores the need for an investigation.

“Let’s have an open and honest discussion about what happened, and let’s try to move forward,” he said. “That’s how we bring closure to this. It’s not just burying our heads in the sand and saying, ‘Well, it was just that one guy.’”

In an email sent Sunday to Palmer council, city officials and some members of the news media, Jellie said some council members want to block an investigation because they fear it would reveal their reliance on false information.

“I remain fully prepared and available to participate in any non-conflicted agency fact-finding investigation should the Palmer City Council summon the courage to initiate such an action in the best interest of the entire City of Palmer workforce and citizenry,” Jellie wrote. “Failure to do so will result in the continued misinformation and disinformation campaigns (by like-minded individuals and social media trolls) controlling the narrative, unless of course that is the exact intent.”

Jellie requested that both the email and a document he created rebutting claims made against him in early October by Heath, the city attorney, be read at an upcoming council meeting.

Palmer City Clerk Shelly Acteson said she has no plans to read the emails during a meeting. She said city code only requires that the council accept submitted correspondence, which occurred when Jellie sent the emails Sunday.

A set of previous emails sent by Jellie last month was included in a meeting packet for the council’s reference, she said. The council later ordered the emails removed and stricken from the record.

The email submissions follow a lawsuit Jellie filed in Wyoming late last month, alleging that a group of current and former residents there conspired to make false statements that interfered with his employment contracts and led to his terminations in Palmer and Wyoming. He said he plans to file a similar lawsuit against individuals in Palmer.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at abushatz@matsusentinel.com