Miller Mayor Adamson Says He Will Resign, Walks Out on Meeting of Board of Aldermen

During ongoing debate over the handling of an easement issue with the Miller wastewater/sewer upgrade project, recently elected Mayor John Adamson took issue with differing opinions on how to compensate the property owners and walked out of the meeting.

In the latter part of the May 13 meeting of the board of aldermen (often informally referred to as the city council), Adamson stated in at least three instances that he would resign as mayor, at least once stating that Alderman Joe Haas could handle it. Haas said that he didn’t want Adamson’s job.

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. This is the second time that you have threatened to resign your office if you don’t get what you want. No,” said Haas.

“Yeah, I’m just a spoiled brat, aren’t I?” responded Adamson.

“No, I’m just saying .... and I don’t want your job, that’s why I didn’t run for it,” answered Haas. “But you’re not going to sit here and act like a spoiled little kid that didn’t get his way.”

Representatives of TREKK Design Group were present to discuss the issue. The property in question has a sewer routed across a portion of it, that was installed back in the 1960s. Apparently, at that time, no formal easement agreement was made, at least not that any record of which can be located. The upgrade project calls for increasing the diameter of the line, which grant funding restrictions require obtaining a formal easement agreement. Although most property owners whose properties have been involved in the project have agreed to grant the city easements at a going rate of $1 for 99 years, the owners of this property balked at that amount, and at a counteroffer of $2,300. Adamson stated that he thinks that he thinks fair compensation for crossing the less than quarter-acre involved should be as much as $30,000-$40,000 – which members of the board of aldermen said was too much.

Adamson stated several times that if the board didn’t want to proceed in the manner he did, he might just resign.

“I have to live with myself and the decisions we make, and I don’t want any part of this,” said Adamson.

After further discussion and questioning from Alderman Joe Haas about whether that was really what he wanted to do, Adamson proceeded to get up and leave the meeting.

“I’m just going to resign, you’ll have my letter of resignation tomorrow,” said Adamson as he walked out.

Haas, as acting president of the board of aldermen, presided over the remainder of the meeting.

No action was taken by the board on Adamson’s promise to resign.

A post on the city of Miller’s Facebook page was made on Friday, May 14, stating that [text is unedited]: “In light of last nights council meeting, Mayor Adamson is still the City Mayor. He resigned from the council meeting due to business not being conducted properly.”

Other business conducted during the meeting included discussion of various city building codes and permit fees, with aldermen Phil Bowers and Haas to form a committee including area residents to review city policies. The topic was raised by local rental home owner Charlie Johnson, who has taken issue with a number of the building codes that he says have made Miller one of the more expensive communities where he operates.

The vote to form the committee was 3-1, with Alderman Garry Baker opposed – Baker had offered a motion that would have repealed all city building codes entirely, which died for lack of a second.

New City Clerk Katy Qualls and a new city attorney, Matthew Owen were sworn in. Owen is a former law student of Adamson’s from his time as an instructor at what is now Missouri State University. Deputy Ryan DeVost, assigned to Miller under the sheriff’s office contract, was also sworn-in as a city police officer.

Adamson raised some of the concerns that he has regarding the department with the sheriff’s office for law enforcement, and said that he has requested a meeting with the county commissioners. Adamson said that Lawrence County Sheriff Brad DeLay had already threatened to end the contract – which Adamson considers to be broken already due to use of the city’s patrol vehicle outside of the city limits. The city has a policy in place of not using the city patrol more than one mile outside the city, with specified exceptions. In a previous meeting, Deputy Sheriff Jon Ford had addressed the issue of using the city patrol vehicle on city-related business outside of the city by the sheriff’s office, stating that it was saving the city money not being charged a fee for use of a sheriff’s vehicle.

Adamson also took issue with the fact that the sheriff’s office had changed the license plates on the city patrol vehicle to match those of sheriff’s vehicles.

Adamson also gave an update on the plea agreement that the county prosecutor had reached with Josh Bruce, the former Miller police chief found to have committed several acts of wrongdoing and unlawful enrichment of himself at the city’s expense. Under the agreement, Bruce will only have to pay about $15,000 in restitution out of over $20,000 taken, and will not see any jail time. The city of Miller had no input in the plea negotiations. Adamson said that the city would be pursuing various options.