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 Johnston Town Council dismisses Administrator in surprise vote web posted August 11, 2009 JOHNSTON – The Johnston Town Council emerged from an executive session Monday night to hold a surprise vote to dismiss Town Administrator Keith Coones on what is described as a “purely budgetary decision” by Town Councilwoman Tyra Miller. The 3-1 vote found Mayor Willie Campbell in the minority with council members Tyra Miller, Tommy Burton, and Buddy Smith voting to dismiss Coones. Council members Buddy Smith and Frank Nicholson were absent from the meeting. Councilwoman Tyra Miller, who made the motion to dismiss Administrator Coones said, “I did what I thought was right for the town. It might blow up in my face, but I did what I thought was right.” Miller said there has been an ongoing discussion about doing away with an administrator until the budget could be brought under control and reserve funds accumulated. “We’ve had discussion on this before,” Miller said, “this is a $20,000 line item that we can use (referring to the pay for the administrator) without putting the cost on the backs of citizens.” Councilwoman Miller said Mr. Coones was, “very qualified and very knowledgeable, it wasn’t personal.” Mr. Coones said he was surprised by the vote, “I wasn’t expecting it,” he said, but added that as the meeting progressed he started to get the feeling, “this wasn’t going to go well.” Mr. Coones said his contract allows for either party to cancel the contract with a 30-day notice. “That’s basically what they did,” he said. Coones said under the contract he was to provide 14 hours of work a week and placed his salary at $16,000. “The town has made progress,” Coones said about his tenure as administrator adding that fiscal restraint left the town with a surplus from last year’s budget in a dwindling economy. ”I’m proud of that and I’m sure they will continue to do well and I hope they will continue to prosper.” Mr. Coones said the town is still faced with serious budgetary issues and he felt they would make the proper decisions to overcome any problems that may come up in the near future. Councilwoman Miller said the town would use the services of the Upper Savannah Council on Government and the Municipal Association to handle issues normally address by the administrator. “Having an administrator is definitely an asset,” Miller said, “but I think in the short term this was the right thing to do.” Miller said if the town council decided to rehire an administrator Coones would certainly be considered. Johnston Mayor Willie Campbell did not return a call for comment. © Copyright 2009
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