Former Oak Hill City Manager Speaks At Commisioner’s Meeting

By Kleinheider Posted on July 18, 2008 at 8:04 am

Oak Hill Commissioner Austin McMullen recounts a raucous Commissioners meeting in the City Of Oak Hill last night:

[Former Oak Hill City Manager Bill] Kraus also had an opportunity to address the Board of Commissioners and those present for the meeting. Unfortunately, Kraus chose to make several false statements or claims that were inconsistent with his previous statements. Kraus, who retired from the position of city manager last month, asserted that he was “forced” to retire based on what he claims is an incorrect interpretation of the law. Yet Kraus, in his letter dated June 21, wrote that he consulted with “five well-known and renowned attorneys” who he says told him that the law he violated did not require his termination. Despite this advice, he chose to retire. A person who consults with five attorneys before acting can hardly claim that he was “forced” to do anything.

There is no question whatsoever that Kraus violated Tennessee law when he openly campaigned for and contributed monetarily to the efforts of a candidate for the Board of Commissioners in last month’s election. In tonight’s meeting, Kraus claimed that the postcards he wrote for a candidate “specifically said” that they were “not an endorsement.” You can read the postcards and decide for yourself. I don’t see anything there “specifically” saying that Kraus’ signature is “not an endorsement.”

Although Kraus’ conduct in violation of Tennessee law raises concerns — especially in light of Kraus’ previous felony conviction — it probably does not matter in the end because Kraus retired from the position of city manager. Several questions were asked about Kraus’ resignation and whether it had to be accepted by the Board in order to be effective. My understanding is that Tennessee is an “at-will” employment state. This means that a person can terminate his employment “at-will” and without any acceptance by the employer of the employee’s decision to quit.

Commissioner Throckmorton falsely claimed that I campaigned on a promise to get rid of Kraus. I walked throughout Oak Hill during the campaign and talked to hundreds of residents. My position on Kraus was always the same — his undisclosed felony conviction raised concerns for me, but I was keeping an open mind because I felt he had done a number of good things for our residents. The fact that the City of Oak Hill would hire a city manager without conducting any background check or even requiring the completion of a job application — all while Commissioner Throckmorton held the position of Mayor — was a serious concern to me, one that I expressed on the campaign trail. The more recent revelation of Kraus’ additional violations of Tennessee law raised even more concerns for me, but Kraus ultimately decided to retire. It is noteworthy that during the citizen comment portion of the agenda — long before the end of the meeting — Commissioner Throckmorton walked out of tonight’s meeting without any explanation.

SEE ALSO: Oak Hill Gazette

permalink | 2 Comments

Tags: Austin McMullen, Bill Kraus, Chip Throckmorton, Tommy Alsup, Tommy Jacobs