Sedalia Council Votes to Censure Mayor Williams
The Sedalia City Council censured Sedalia Mayor Traves Williams Tuesday night during its regular meeting that was packed with citizens and department heads.
Council paused the open portion of the meeting for 16 minutes to go into closed-door session to discuss censuring Mayor Williams for an outburst that occurred at a previous special meeting held on the afternoon of Aug. 26.
During that meeting, Mayor Williams launched into a tirade against Council members, City Administrator Matt Wirt and Lauber Law Firm.
Williams said he would like to discuss a personnel item in open session.
The Lauber Law Firm rep immediately told Williams a vote of the Council would be needed to allow any discussion of personnel during the public portion of the meeting.
Williams replied he is allowed to discuss personnel matters in open session due to the fact that he ran his campaign on transparency.
“I am the CEO … If you would like to object it, then I have ten other Municipal attorneys that will dispute anything you say,” Mayor Williams said.
He went on to say that when he approached the city administrator, asking him to suspended or terminate certain employees, he refused to do so, and said that the Mayor was creating a hostile working environment.
Williams called that insubordination.
“I was selected to be the voice of this town,” Williams said. He went on to say he could sue each member of the Council if he so desires “for refusing to give me the documentation that I requested” reference sitting in on interviews for an assistant city administrator.
On Tuesday night after the closed-door meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Tina Boggess detailed nine violations that Mayor Williams committed.
“Mayor Williams violated City Code by publicly threatening unlawful lawsuits against the City and Council members who disagreed with him, which has prevented the Mayor and Council from working together effectively as a team,” Boggess read.
The Censure also charged Mayor Williams with repeatedly lying to Council regarding City business, levying personal charges and verbal attacks against the City Administrator and others, and has aired his personal grievances in public and eroded trust in the Mayor.
The city administrator has the power to hire and discharge City staff, Boggess noted.
Williams’ first response after Boggess concluded was “I find that hard to believe,” he said, urging Council to review and show their evidence.
He later apologized.
“I apologize for my actions at the last meeting,” Mayor Williams said, adding that it was not his intention to discredit the city administrator.
You can watch the City’s Sept. 8 video here.
You can watch the City’s video from Aug. 26 here.
When it was time to take a vote to censure the mayor, it was seven yes and one no (Redford).
The rest of the Council’s two-hour & 36-minute meeting Tuesday night will be detailed in a separate story.
