Ellisville Council Passes Motion To Remove City Manager

Ellisville's City Council voted 4-3 Wednesday approving a preliminary motion to fire City Manager Kevin Bookout.

Councilmembers Mick Cahill, Gary Voss, Linda Reel and Mayor Adam Paul voted in favor, with Councilmembers Matt Pirrello, Roze Acup and Cindy Pool dissenting.

Bookout who under city charter rules was suspended with pay for up to 45 days, now has five days to appeal the decision, although there was some question over if that meant calendar days or business days.

An appeal would be heard in front of the council in a private session no less than 20 days after the request is made. If no appeal is requested after that five day period, a vote on a final resolution could be held immediately. Otherwise, there is also a five day wait period following the appeal hearing in closed session.

Bookout stood in the back of the council chambers during the meeting and not on the dais. He did not speak during the discussion prior to the vote, and has not responded to reporters questions since a motion last week authorized the move to seek his removal.

Councilwoman Pool questioned if Mayor Paul had a conflict of interest in voting on the measure, considering Paul's civil lawsuit against Bookout stemming from Paul's impeachment earlier this year. Paul has maintained that Bookout and other city officials and elected leaders conspired against him.

"I'm voting. There's no conflict," Paul responded.

The city charter does not require council members to provide a public accounting for why it would choose to dismiss the city manager. An attempt by Pool to get an answer in open session last week was rebuffed. Councilman Cahill, who introduced Wednesday's motion, accused Bookout in an interview of failing to communicate evenly with all council members, among the reasons. 

Members of the public who spoke Wednesday accused Bookout of failing to retain email records properly, of allowing a contract with a PR firm to go over budget, and not being transparent in efforts that would have relocated city hall to the site of the Tri-Star motors car dealership.

While not explicitly addressed in the meeting, the motion Wednesday puts Andrea Muskopf, Assistant City Manager, in charge as Acting City Manager, at least temporarily.

"She's been there for a while. She knows what she's doing," Cahill said. "I have confidence in her. There's enough people with experience to be able to talk out anything that has to get taken care of. I'm not concerned per se about the day to day business for the next few days."

Pool, in an interview late Tuesday night, voiced support for Bookout, and worried about what would be lost if he left. "Once he leaves, everything he knows," she said, "goes with him."