Embattled Palmer city manager resigns with $75,000 payout after 53 days in job
Stephen Jellie's resignation was announced during an emergency city council meeting Wednesday.
What you need to know:
- Palmer City Manager Stephen Jellie resigned Wednesday night with a $75,000 payout, effective immediately.
- The resignation was triggered in part by accusations from the city attorney that Jellie’s personnel actions against city employees had placed the city at an “imminent threat” of lawsuits.
- Jellie’s exit from Palmer is his third resignation in less than two years. He previously resigned as city manager in Ogdensburg, New York, and as fire chief for Teton County and Jackson Hole.
PALMER — Palmer's embattled city manager, Stephen Jellie, resigned Wednesday night during a nearly three-hour emergency closed session with the City Council. He will leave with a $75,000 payout, effective immediately.
Jellie held the job for 53 days. The resignation was unanimously approved by the Palmer City Council during an emergency meeting following the closed session.
“After deliberation, the City Council accepted the city manager’s resignation and honored the terms of the contract, and directed the mayor to sign a mutual release, effective immediately,” Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington said during the emergency City Council meeting late Wednesday.
Jellie's resignation was triggered by a warning from the city attorney during a Tuesday meeting that Jellie's personnel practices posed an "imminent threat" of lawsuits, coupled with outcry from dozens of the city's public safety employees who said he was working to cut their resources and downsize their departments.
Jellie also placed Palmer Police Chief Dwayne Shelton on two weeks of administrative leave for questioning those decisions, Shelton told the council Tuesday night.
No interim city manager has been named. Shelton remains on administrative leave because city policy requires the city manager to end the leave order before its two-week expiration date, Carrington said in an interview after the announcement. The manager's position will remain vacant until the council meets again on the matter, he said. Such a meeting has not been scheduled.
Jellie said in a statement Thursday morning that he appreciated the opportunity to work in Palmer and linked his resignation to pressure on the council from "a single interest."
