By by Stephanie Nau, Printed with permission from KTVO-TV, Channel 3 News
GREEN CITY, MO — The issue began Dec. 9, when the Green City Board of Aldermen abruptly removed the city maintenance supervisor without a replacement ready, leaving no one to handle trash collection or disposal.
The only other employee expected to do the work, Kelly Cochran, was already on medical restrictions, bringing trash service in the city to a screeching halt.
For nearly a month, trash piled up outside homes and at the city’s maintenance facility, and residents were still billed for December services they never received.
City Clerk Rachel Hale told me the maintenance supervisor’s release was an impulsive choice by the board without consideration for the ramifications.
Frustrations involving both residents and employees boiled over during a Jan. 6 meeting at City Hall.
Before the board could even get to the trash issues, Green City’s last three full-time employees moved to resign, blaming a “toxic workplace environment” and Mayor Ernest Conner’s conduct.
Utilities Clerk Ashley Albrecht, Maintenance Worker Kelly Cochran, and City Clerk Rachel Hale were the employees who gave notice.
During the meeting, Mayor Ernest Conner read through a stack of complaints from employees and city residents, referring to many of them as hearsay or outright lies.
The complaints ranged from threatening paychecks, sunshine law violations, abuses of power, and sexual harassment.
Many residents voiced their concern for the blatant lack of seriousness and competence on the board, while a few others blamed the chaos on their fellow attendees for disrupting the meeting.
While the Board of Aldermen were able to come up with a temporary solution to get the trash picked up, it seems the trash talk – is still on the table.
