Uniontown City Council fires city clerk

Uniontown City officials assemble Tuesday night at the Untiontown Community Center. Uniontown City Clerk Linda Gier, Uniontown City Councilman Michael Vanzant, and Uniontown City Treasurer Betty Rose listen as Mayor Rick Allen addresses issues at the meeting. After a closed session, council members voted 3 to 1 to dismiss Gier from her position as city clerk. Tribune photo/Rayma Silvers.

UNIONTOWN -- A majority of the Uniontown City Council voted on Tuesday to fire long-time City Clerk Linda Gier.

During their regular meeting Tuesday evening at Uniontown City Hall, the council, after returning from executive session, voted 3-1 in favor of terminating Gier's position with the city.

Council members Randy Rathbun, Iva Jean Isaac, and Janice Ramsey voted in favor of releasing Gier, who had been city clerk for 29 years, while the remaining council member, Mike Vanzant, voted in favor of keeping Gier on the city payroll, Gier said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning.

Gier said the council did not give her a reason for the termination of her employment, but that she believes that three council members; Rathbun, Isaac, and Ramsey had a plan the last few months to eventually have her removed from her position. Rathbun is a veteran council member, while Isaac and Ramsey were elected in April.

Uniontown Mayor Rick Allen was present in the Tuesday closed session, she said.

Gier said she is still confused as to why city officials let her go.

"I've had no problems -- I don't know why," she said. "I've never had a bad evaluation. I've only had good comments from anyone I've ever worked with. I'm concerned for the citizens of Uniontown."

Allen and other council members were not available for comment as of press time.

Gier said one of the possible reasons behind her termination was a report she typically files to the city council following one of their regular meetings. Gier said the report, which had recently been made public, could have played a part in her termination.

"The report was a big factor," she said. "I think they wanted me out of there before. They set me up to fail. I just didn't know how long it would take them."

In that report, dated July 17, Gier listed several allegations against city officials, including one alleged incident in which several people had been inside city offices, and that since file cabinets inside the office cannot be locked, that she should not be held accountable for any records, documents or other city property that are reported missing.

In the report, she also said that when located, recorded tapes of the June 12 council meeting were blank, and that she does not know what happened to the information on the tapes. Another allegation in the report also said that Isaac and Ramsey had recently entered city offices to conduct business and to possibly take money and rummage through city files.

The report said that Gier did not know how the council members obtained a key to city offices and could have been trespassing on city property and illegally entering a building. The report also said a non-council member was inside city offices after hours, which could be considered trespassing. Gier said in the report that Isaac and Ramsey also had been answering the city telephone to conduct business, breaking state and federal laws.

In the report, Gier also asked who had the authority to publish a notice for a special meeting that took place on July 10, that did not involve the mayor. The meeting could not have been official since the three necessary signatures from council members collected at that meeting were possibly in violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, Gier said.

City officers were also not notified of the special meeting, Gier said in the report.

Gier also said in the written report that an unauthorized person picked up city mail, and that her personal mail had been picked up and left on a desk inside her office while she was on vacation. A council member had also recently instructed library volunteers to discard numerous books from the city library without knowledge of the library committee, of which the named council member was not a member.

In a final comment in the report, Gier said to the council, "Your attitudes at council meetings have been hostile, not to mention rude. At least one council member made slanderous comments in the May 14 council meeting. This, in addition to the actions listed above, are leaving the city wide open for serious consequences for your actions."

Gier said Wednesday that within the last couple of months, she had become suspicious that her job might be in jeopardy after city officials, in June, elected to cut her work hours and also took away her insurance benefits.

When asked Wednesday if she would continue to be involved with city affairs, Gier said she "hasn't decided yet."