“You can either fire me right now or give everything back”
OILTON — Mayor and Oilton Public Works Authority (OPWA) Chairman Patrick Kennedy set the tone for a tense Oilton City Council and OPWA meeting when he offered an ultimatum to continuingtheperformanceimprovement plans (PIPs) tied to his positions.
“You can either fire me right now or give everything back,” said Kennedy following the conflicting results determined by officials’ votes.
The regular meetings of the Oilton council and OPWA were held in conjunction on Dec. 9. An item for each entity was in regard to a PIP that was put in place several months ago for Kennedy’s position as council mayor as well as his position as OPWA chairman. On both the city and authority side the item was discussed in executive session, however, when it came time to vote in open session the PIP was dropped for the mayor but continued for the chairman.
Following the meeting council member and OPWA vice chair Julia Bagwell acknowledged confusion surrounding the differing votes. She noted that while the city removed the PIP and the consequences attached, the OPWA voted to keep the PIP despite Kennedy’s compensation having been restored.
“They gave him back his money on the OPWA side so it’s like grounding your toddler but then giving them back their tablet,” she said about the returned compensation. “They gave him back all his money so to keep him on the PIP is really redundant.”
A statement that explained her vote to drop the PIP on both sides despite having backed the initial item that placed Kennedy on the plan months ago.
“I’m over the two-hour executive sessions where we all spend that time yelling at each other and everyone refuses to stand up,” she said. “This requires follow through not continued discussion.”
City Clerk Shannon Wilson confirmed that after returning to open session the council voted to remove the cityissued PIP with council member Rachel Jasinski making the motion and Bagwell seconding. Bonnie Casey, Ry Hollingsworth, Bagwell, Jasinski, and Tyler Bridwell voted in favor, while Brian Barton voted against. The motion passed, officially ending the PIP related to Kennedy’s duties as mayor.
The OPWA meeting commenced following the council decision where a separate PIP involving Kennedy in his role as OPWA chairman was taken up. Following another executive session the OPWA chairman’s PIP was addressed. Jasinski again made the motion to drop the plan with Bagwell seconding. The vote resulted in a split decision: Bagwell, Jasinski, and Bridwell voted yes; Barton and Hollingsworth voted no while Casey abstained which counted as a no vote.
City Attorney Joshua Conaway advised that Kennedy not cast a tiebreaking vote. Kennedy agreed with the attorney saying “it’s unethical”. With the vote ending in a 3–3 tie the motion failed and the PIP for Kennedy as OPWA chair remained in place.
During council member comments later in the meeting, Kennedy addressed the board directly, expressing frustration over the outcome and stating he would not comply with the OPWA PIP.
“I’m not going to be doing that PIP,” Kennedy said. “It ain’t going to happen.”
He went on to challenge the board to either terminate him or fully restore his authority — the meeting was adjourned shortly after.
Wilson later clarified that the city and OPWA votes were separate actions by two governing bodies and that two members — Bessie Mattaliano and Sharlie Jackson — were absent from the meeting.
“He was taken off the city PIP and the OPWA PIP remains in place,” explained Wilson. “We won’t have an executive session for it on the city side, however, next month we will have it back on there for the OPWA side for a vote of the council members… We were missing two council members so, I can’t say how they would have voted — it could have been totally different if both or just one other one was there to be a tiebreaker — I mean who knows?”
The OPWA PIP is expected to return on a future agenda, where it may be reconsidered.