At a special meeting Monday night of the Sealy City Council to conduct a performance review of City Manager Lloyd Merrell, he abruptly tendered his resignation, only to have the council essentially fire him.

Merrell, who has been under fire from the council recently regarding the low fund balance reserves, said he was resigning at the end of his contract on Feb. 1. After going into an executive session, the council emerged and voted to accept his resignation and immediately place him on paid administrative leave until his time was up. The council instructed Police

Chief Jay Reeves to escort Merrell to his office at city hall and supervise him cleaning out his office that night.

“They want a divorce right now,” Merrell said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting of the council.

Prior to the executive session, Merrell complained about slanderous statements made in the community about he and his wife, Marsha Merrell.

“I’ve never had my position in local government tied to such slanderous talk before,” he said. “An acquaintance of mine was warned by a member of the community ‘watch out for Lloyd and Marsha Merrell, they’re trouble.’ That is getting very close to defamation of our character.

“Starting a dance program for special needs children at no cost to parents is not trouble. Working on infrastructure and road needs is not trouble. I didn’t need this job when I applied for it, but I accepted it when it was offered because I wanted to make Sealy better. My intentions were to stay on the job a minimum of five years at least. After a lot of prayer and long conversations with Marsha I’ve reached the decision that I am announcing my resignation as city manager effective the end of my contract on Feb. 1.”

The meeting at the Hill Center began with comments from the public. Councilmember Chris Noack signed up and was the only person to speak.

He began by quoting the responsibilities of a city council member from the city charter. Those responsibilities include “power to inquire into the conduct of any department, agency, office, officer or employee of the city and to investigate municipal affairs,” he said.

“This statement to me means the council has the right to ask questions,” he said. “I feel like asking questions is important to making sure I, as a council member, understand what I am voting on and how my vote will impact the city today, tomorrow and in the future. My job is not to rubberstamp items and I sometimes feel this is what staff expects. My job is to ensure that what is being proposed is right for the city and to do that job I must ask questions.”

He said that he has seen things “that lessen my trust” in city staff.

“Since our general fund balance was frighteningly low, I asked that council be sent the city registers. To my surprise, I saw an expense to purchase a stove and an expense to install electrical for the stove in the planning department,” he said. “During the pandemic, when the fund balance is low, an almost $400 expenditure was authorized for this purchase. Events such as this do have an effect on my trust with city staff.

“While this expenditure does increase employee morale, and I do believe that is important, I question the timing of this purchase. I question the placement of the stove that is now in the hallway of the planning building and what message this sends to visitors. I question if this placement is even up to code and I question why any employer would allow a stove to be purchased and installed when there is one next door in the kitchen at city hall,” he said.

“Council and staff must be able to trust each other and in order to build that trust questions must be asked and answers must be given,” he added.

After Noack and Merrell made their statements, the council adjourned into a side room for their executive session. Mayor Carolyn Bilski went to the added step of having paper taped over the windows of the room to prevent them from being observed. After nearly an hour of deliberation with City Attorney Tim Kirwin, they called Merrell into the room. He came out a short time later and announced to the remaining audience members the council’s decision. He and most of the crowd then left by the time the council returned and reconvened the regular session to vote on Merrell’s resignation. Noack made the motion and the vote was unanimous.

“He will be paid out for the term of his contract,” Bilski said after the meeting.