Even though Sealy Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Robert Worley announced his resignation at the end of the month, his last day of work was Friday.

He will continue on as a consultant through Dec. 31 but will not oversee day-to-day operations of the EDC in a deal brokered between Worley, City Manager Lloyd Merrell, City Attorney Tim Kirwin, and City Councilmember Larry Koy.

Koy, who is also on the EDC board of directors, emailed City Manager Lloyd Merrell on Thursday asking for an item to be placed on Tuesday’s agenda to fire Worley. That followed an email Worley sent Koy asking if a rumor was true that Koy wanted to shut down the Sealy Main Street program. Rather than respond to Worley, Koy went to Merrell to seek Worley’s termination.

“I’m going to ask that this be put on the Dec. 15th meeting to fire Worley,” Koy said in his email to Merrell.

“This resolves getting me out of Mr. Koy’s hair,” Worley said. “He wants me gone. He’s wanted me gone for a long time.”

A phone call and email to Koy by The Sealy News on Friday had not been returned by press time. When confronted in person on Monday, Koy deferred any comment to the mayor.

City Manager Lloyd Merrell confirmed that Koy sent him an email seeking termination of Worley’s employment. Merrell said he consulted with the city attorney who proposed the compromise.

“This is like the ‘Twilight Zone.’ A city doesn’t operate this way,” Worley said.

Worley said this is the second time Koy has tried to have him fired. He said the first time came after an online meeting of the city council last summer when Worley texted Councilmember Jennifer Sullivan to inform her that a proposal she was making regarding the EDC budget was illegal. Sullivan was able to change her proposal in time. Koy became aware of the exchange and allegedly wanted Worley fired for directly contacting a councilmember.

Worley said as a compromise he was prohibited from directly emailing or texting council members. Worley said he complied with that until Thursday when he emailed Koy as a member of his board of directors.

“Legally the city council can’t fire me,” Worley said.

He said the process to fire him would have to originate with the EDC board at a meeting that was properly advertised. That recommendation would then have to go to the city manager, who would place it on the agenda of a council meeting, also properly advertised, for the council to vote on. Worley said there was not enough time in his 20 remaining days with the city to do that.

Worley said he talked to his wife, Fawncyne, and they were both agreeable to ending Worley’s service early.

“The workplace has gotten so hostile that neither me nor Fawncyne wanted to put up with it for another 20 days,” he said.

This is the second time Koy has acted in haste to terminate an employee who was leaving. In April of 2015 former city manager Chris Coffman left to take a similar position in Granbury. The city council offered him a sixmonth “continuity of service” contract for $50,000 so city staff and interim city manager Krisha Langton could continue to consult him on city projects he was involved with. The money was to be paid out over a six-month period.

Three months into the deal, however, the council voted unanimously to end Coffman’s contact early for a $45,500 buyout. Koy and former mayor Mark Stolarski led the charge to end the contract without stating a reason why.