I.T. director resigns, replacement hired

Fort Scott City Commissioners learned during their Tuesday meeting that a city staff member has resigned.

Following a brief discussion on the quality of city staff and several city projects that officials said have the city moving forward, City Manager Dave Martin announced that Slayden Davis, the city's director of information technology since 2013, recently submitted his resignation and will be moving back to Texas.

"In talking about excellent staff, I'm announcing that Slayden Davis is resigning," Martin said.

Davis, who is from the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, area, said at the meeting that his last day with the city will be Friday. He is returning to his home state for family reasons.

Martin said Davis' replacement has already been found, Dustin McClure of Uniontown, who works in information technology at a local business.

"We've hired a very nice gentleman who will pick up where Slayden left off," Martin said.

Martin said the city will miss contributions Davis has made to the city during Davis' three years in his position.

"Slayden, we'll miss you. Thank you for everything you've done," Martin said, which was followed by applause from those in attendance.

Over the last few years, Davis has helped city staff work on a software conversion that has helped with efficiencies at city hall, and also to improve the city's technology infrastructure.

Davis and his wife, Sarah, and their two daughters currently live in Fort Scott. His two daughters are in the USD 234 school system.

In 2013 when Davis started his job, he said there were two primary goals he wanted to begin addressing: bringing more fiber optics to Fort Scott for high-speed Internet, and implementation of new accounting software for city staff, which staff are now using. Davis has worked with city and county officials to find solutions.