Councilman: Scott City mayor, city administrator resigned

Scott City Mayor Ron Cummins has resigned amid a state lawmaker’s call for an investigation into allegations that he abused his position.

Councilman Gary Spinks said Monday night Cummins and city administrator Diann Ulmer resigned.

Spinks said both resignations were reported to him by a fellow council member.

Ulmer, former superintendent of Scott City schools, entered into a contract July 17 to perform the duties of city administrator.

But in an email to the Southeast Missourian, Ulmer said “the number of hours the council expected me to work became much more than what we agreed to. I was only supposed to be part time, roughly 24 hours a week. Each workweek seemed to get longer.”

Holly Rehder

Ulmer said her decision to resign was “entirely my decision with no outside pressure whatsoever.”

Cummins did not return phone calls from the Southeast Missourian on Monday.

State Rep. Holly Rehder had called for an investigation into the “possibility of impropriety” on the part of Cummins.

The push for an investigation comes as some Scott City residents have begun a petition drive to oust the mayor. At least two council members are listed among the petitioners.

The council recently voted to appoint a different interim chief than the one named by the mayor.

A city council meeting, scheduled for Monday night, was canceled abruptly earlier in the day.

Rehder, a Republican lawmaker from the Sikeston, Missouri, area who now lives near Scott City, sent a letter to Scott County Sheriff Wes Drury on Aug. 8, requesting the sheriff’s department or the Missouri State Highway Patrol conduct an investigation.

The letter came a day after Scott City police chief David Leeman resigned.

Rehder’s letter is dated the same day as Cummins told the Southeast Missourian he had not forced the chief to resign.

But Rehder said Monday she has received emails and phone calls from current and former city employees and Scott City business owners expressing concerns about Cummins’ actions as mayor.

In the letter, Rehder said constituents have told her:

• Several city employees have been fired and at least two “have filed or are filing lawsuits against the city”
• The police chief resigned; “however, others present say he was told to resign or be fired”
• After the resignation, an officer who was second in command to the chief was not appointed interim chief; another officer was appointed instead
• There is a petition in the works to attempt to remove the mayor
• Local ordinances reportedly “have been ignored with the intention to make changes to the ordinances to fit the actions”
• Raises for police officers, set to begin July 1, were disregarded
• Voiding tickets has been reported, with officers being threatened they would “lose their jobs if they speak up”
• City projects are not being handled through the appropriate bidding process as required by statute.

Rehder said she requested an investigation because of the “seriousness of these accusations.”

Rehder said Leeman had an “impeccable reputation” as Scott City’s police chief.

According to Rehder, she wrote the letter to the sheriff after contacting the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.

She said she was informed an investigation could be conducted by the sheriff or the highway patrol’s division of drug and crime control.

Rehder said she asked the sheriff recently about the status of her request.

According to Rehder, Drury said he had discussed the matter with the Scott County prosecuting attorney “to see if any laws were broken.”

On Friday, Rehder contacted the Missouri Attorney General’s Office to push for an investigation.

She said the allegations against the mayor warrant “an independent investigation.”

Attorney General’s Office spokeswoman Loree Anne Paradise said in an email Rehder spoke to “senior members of the Public Corruption Unit who advised her to contact local law enforcement and also instructed her on the ways in which the Attorney General’s Office could gain authority to handle the case.”

Cummins appointed police officer Kevin Harris as interim chief Aug. 7 after Leeman’s resignation.

But on Aug. 9, the council at a special meeting refused to confirm the appointment, according to a news release from the city, posted Monday.

The council voted to install Lt. Mike Culler as interim police chief.

Culler was the highest-ranking officer in the police department serving under Leeman, the news release said.

City officials announced in the release a permanent chief is expected to be named by mid-September.

The news release was dated Sunday and posted on the city’s website Monday, five days after the council action.

Scott City resident Cindi Davidson Brashear has started a group called “We Want Our Town Back.”

The group had begun a petition drive to hold an election to recall the mayor, who was elected to that post in April 2016.

Brashear said councilmen Randy Morse and Matt Koehler signed the petition. Morse and Koehler could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

Spinks said he did not sign the petition but “all my family signed it.”

Spinks said he hopes the mayor’s resignation will “calm things down.”

Brashear said earlier in the day that Cummins is “just a bully” who has forced at least five or six city employees to resign, including the former city administrator.

Brashear welcomed the report of the mayor’s resignation.

But she added she still wants “the truth to come out” regarding Cummins’ actions as mayor.

The Highway Patrol did not respond to repeated phone calls from the Southeast Missourian.

Drury also did not respond to calls and emails from the newspaper.

Brashear said she and other residents had planned to attend the scheduled council meeting Monday where the actions of the mayor were expected to be discussed.

But the meeting was canceled.

According to the city’s website, the session was canceled because the agenda and proposed ordinances and resolutions were “inadvertently not posted on the bulletin board at city hall” 24 hours before the scheduled meeting as required by the state’s Sunshine Law.

The meeting initially was rescheduled for Aug. 21.

But after officials posted a public notice to that effect on the city website, the meeting was rescheduled for 7 p.m. today.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641