There are now two area cities in the hunt for a new city administrator.
Parkville has joined Platte City in the list of towns searching for a new administrative leader. Joe Turner, Parkville city administrator, submitted his resignation last Wednesday. His resignation will take effect on April 18.
Turner said he resigned to accept a position as city manager at Fort Scott, Kan. on Monday, April 21.
In an interview on Monday, Turner said there is no specific reason why he is leaving. “The opportunity came around, I applied and I got the job,” said Turner. “They have a larger budget and a population of about 8,200.”
Fort Scott is located in southeastern Kansas near the Missouri border.
“I’m sorry for the city, we gained a lot from his expertise,” said Kathy Dusenbery, Parkville mayor. “We are in greater financial shape because of Joe Turner.”
Dusenbery said she had known Turner was looking for another job.
“I had known he was looking for several months,” said Dusenbery. “I was hoping he’d stay a little longer in Parkville. We tried keeping Joe as long as we can, so the departments will understand what to do.”
According to Dusenbery, the Parkville Board of Aldermen will hold an executive session on Tuesday concerning the next step in recruiting a new city administrator.
Dusenbery said Turner had already interviewed with Fort Scott before the issue with Deb Hammond, former administrative assistant, occurred in January.
Hammond was investigated for allegedly falsifying timesheets. After several executive sessions, the board eliminated Hammond’s position on Feb. 7 saying she had completed all of her assignments. The city denied any wrongdoing on Hammond’s part after receiving the results of an investigation by an outside human resources firm hired by the city.
Turner was originally the financial advisor for the city of Atchison, Ks. starting in 1985 and became the Atchison city manager in 1990. In 2004, Turner started working for Parkville as the city administrator.
In 2008, Turner was budgeted to make $85,392 at Parkville as city administrator. According to the employment agreement Turner signed with Fort Scott, he will earn $85,392 as city manager.
Platte City’s Keith Moody was making an annual salary of nearly $73,000 at the time his employment was terminated by the board of aldermen earlier this year. Moody has remained on with Platte City as the city conducts its search for his replacement.