Suburbs

After almost two weeks of drama in Collierville, the showdown between Town Administrator Molly Mehner and Fire Chief John Selberg reached a conclusion, officials announced Friday morning, Aug. 21.

Selberg blinked.

The fire chief, we learned, retired as head of the suburban department — a question that was the center of an issue that split the town over which leader was in the right.

Whether Selberg was a victim or Mehner was doing her job in trying to address problems in the fire department.

It turned into quite the mess.

A quick recap. In Mehner’s view, Selberg wasn’t doing the job properly, and there was the accusation that he was insubordinate saying he didn’t work for the town administrator. So, she tried to get him to leave. She asked for his resignation/retirement or else.

Now, some may interpret that as Mehner trying to fire Selberg. Sort of like when a coach is given an opportunity to resign or retire before being fired.

As has become the norm, a coach should feel most uncomfortable when they are given the dreaded “vote of confidence.”

And there was certainly not even a “vote of confidence” from Mehner.

But apparently the Town Charter says it is not up to Mehner to fire a department head; that decision falls to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

So, Mehner said she didn’t really try to fire him. Instead, she put him on administrative leave and warned him against coming on town property or talking to town employees until this could be resolved.

That was almost two weeks ago.

Since then, there have been public meetings, closed-door meetings, canceled special meetings, discussions of a future meeting, talks with attorneys and A LOT of whispers wondering what was really going on with Selberg.

Was he going to retire? Would Mehner take her concerns to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and ask them to fire Selberg? Was any resolution coming soon?

Information began trickling out this week about how things got to this point — mainly because we filed open records requests. As is normally the case, a government entity dragged their feet on releasing documents associated with the situation, even what was given to the town’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen during a closed-door meeting with attorneys. With reporter Abigail Warren standing in the administration wing lobby when the meeting concluded.

I’m sure officials had their reasons for withholding those documents. Attorney-client privilege. Personnel matter. The need to redact certain information.

In announcing Selberg’s departure, the town said it is not customary or appropriate to discuss personnel issues in public. I would disagree with that stance when it comes to a public official and a department covered by the taxes of Collierville residents. They, indeed, have an interest in what is going on in their town.

The reasons or excuses and delays only kept the story alive. Which, except for the annoyance of having to file a document for a public record, is fine with us.

However, it shouldn’t be fine with the Collierville residents and taxpayers.

According to correspondence in the released records, Selberg was close to presenting a retirement letter at Mehner’s insistence, which ultimately was the result of all this.

All things considered, Mehner may have taken a few wrong turns in the path to Selberg’s departure, but maybe the town administrator followed the overview of the charter.

Mehner said if he didn’t retire or resign, she was prepared to go to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and recommend termination. Which apparently was the proper route to take, versus her taking away his job without the board’s blessing.

I am well aware that matters such as this are often handled quietly in government. That every municipality deals with them and doesn’t get this kind of attention.

But whether it is because it is a fire chief who has a long career and a solid reputation, or the fact that it is in Collierville, this matter got messy and did not play well in the public eye. - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

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