Citing endless council bickering, Afton's city administrator quits

A day after she tearfully resigned her post as Afton's city administrator, Shelly Strauss said Tuesday that a divisive, dysfunctional city government made it impossible to do her job.

"My leaving is not about a personality conflict, it's not about any one individual, it's about a number of things," said Strauss, who took the job a year ago. "I hope Afton can turn the page. Afton has a long history of struggles."

In an emotional and unexpected moment Monday night, Strauss told City Council members that she was quitting because ongoing politics and partisanship make compromise impossible in Afton. Strauss said that the past year was riddled with argumentative and unproductive meetings -- requiring her to issue frequent reminders of Minnesota's open meetings law -- and that job stress had taken a toll on her personal life.

Council members voted 4-0 to accept her resignation. Member Joe Richter was absent.

"I knew that she was very frustrated," Mayor Julia Welter said Tuesday. "It's just not an easy situation, and as a city we have to look at the demands we place on staff."

Strauss was on contract to work 30 hours a week for about $55,000 a year. In a separation agreement she proposed and that the City Council accepted, Strauss said she had worked more than 600 hours of uncompensated time relating to a fourfold increase in city meetings and a reduction in city staff.

The agreement stipulates that her severance will include 180 hours of pay for that time, and an additional 120 hours of pay for two years' service with the city. Strauss was assistant city administrator before her promotion in December 2006.

In her comments to the City Council on Monday night, Strauss said that she fell into disfavor with two Council members, Richter and Peg Nolz, and has had little communication with them for more than six months. She said the political climate was such that she was criticized for buying coffee, lunch and gifts in Old Village, the city's downtown district, because some business owners wanted more development in Afton.

However, she said Tuesday that she wasn't forced from her job.

"This is not about the Hatfields and McCoys," said Strauss, 40, referring to deep divisions in Afton over development issues. "Everybody wants to turn it into something else. This is about a personal decision for me."

But Ken Kopitzke, a former mayor, said that Strauss "irritated a lot of people" with what he said was an abrasive manner and he suggested the mayor should have counseled Strauss to take a more moderate approach with residents.

"If people don't like going to City Hall for business, that's not a very workable situation," he said. He also questioned whether Afton needed a city administrator, given that the city doesn't directly manage roads, police or fire protection.

"She had very strong convictions and sometimes she maybe did appear to be abrasive," Welter said. "I think there were people who were sometimes put off by her direct style."

Strauss will continue working until Feb. 29 and is looking for work elsewhere. Welter said that the city will post the job soon.

Kopitzke, who was mayor from 1988-90 and served on the City Council six years before that, said he's grown tired of ongoing fighting in Afton over extreme positions.

"It does irritate me that both sides look at the other side as enemies," he said. "There's got to be a degree of civility in all of our levels of government, and if you can't do that then you're headed for trouble."