Chelsea city officials voted 5-2 Monday to accept the resignation of City Manager Elle Cole. Council members Sam Angus and George Merkel were the two dissenting votes.
The council on August 27th voted to terminate Cole with cause for five reasons cited in a city resolution: dishonesty, misuse of public funds, inappropriate workplace behavior, violation of the public trust, and insubordination.
Cole surrendered her right to a public hearing before her termination was made official, surprising the council with her resignation immediately prior to Monday’s scheduled council meeting.
Mayor Kate Henson said Cole’s decision came as a shock.
“We're completely at a loss. If it was for self-preservation or to protect her reputation in some way, it should have been done before we made that initial vote to terminate because in that resolution, it lists the five things. Those are out for the public to see now. So, there's no hiding it and no going back. So, this is really a shock.”
Cole had served only six months in the position before a vote to terminate her was made by the City Council.
Pressed about details of Cole's behavior Henson said it came down to a matter of broken trust.
"There were instances where things were coming up at the last minute to counsel that we didn't know were last minute. So, we weren't apprised of deadlines. Even sometimes if there were contracts where the amount of the contract wasn't in there or it was wrong or contracts had already been signed without us knowing."
When she accepted the role, Cole said increasing stability and trust for Chelsea were among her top priorities.
In her resignation letter Cole said that she was sorry that the position did not work out as hoped for and accepted responsibility for her part in the outcome.
She leaves without pay or benefits.
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