County park manager firing follows tense budget meeting exchange
By Charlene Sims, Journal staff
MOUND CITY – The decision to fire the Linn County Park manager earlier this month was made behind closed doors. Sheri Loveland was quietly fired on Oct. 5, apparently with the blessing of the Linn County Commission. The dismissal ended Loveland’s nine-year tenure with the county, eight of that as park manager.
Other terminations in recent years have been announced at commission meetings, including firings of Shaun West, former public works administrator, and Ben Souza, former zoning director.
The county has posted the park manager position, but with a change that indicates that officials are looking for a man to fill the post. The successful managerial candidate will be able to lift object 60 pounds or heavier. Loveland said her job description called for her to be able to lift 40 pounds, however, she has very seldom had to do that during her tenure.
Loveland, a 66 year-old has who stands at about 4 foot 11 inches, worked in the public works office for a year before she was hired to manage the park. On the day of her termination, Loveland was told there was cause for her dismissal, but they could not tell her what it was.
Two deputies accompanied her supervisor, public works administrator J.D. Handly, and County Clerk Chasity Ware when she was told she no longer worked for the county.
Loveland said she questioned the reason for the deputies and she was told by Ware that they were concerned that she might become “explosive.” She said one of the deputies apologized when she was given the order.
Loveland said she did not receive a warning or notice of corrective action before being fired. Her last four evaluations, from 2022 to 2025 were 3.93, 4.53, 4.60 and 4.60, respectively, with a 4 representing “exceeds expectations.”
Three were from former public works administrator Shaun West and the last one in 2025 was from West’s successor, Jesse Walton.
Loveland has been vocal to the clerk's office and her supervisors about inconsistencies and mistakes in the accounts payable for her department since former County Clerk David Lamb left the county clerk position in February 2025. Loveland has reported that her monthly reports were very close to the interim statements that departments receive until Lamb left. She said that while some of her department’s bills were not being paid in 2025, bills from other county departments were being paid from the park’s account.
It has been evident from exchanges during commission meetings that Loveland and Commissioner Alison Hamilton have not been on the best of terms. Hamilton has been overtly rude and has often grilled Loveland on the park’s operation over the last two years.
But the tension between the two surfaced even before Hamilton was sworn in as commissioner. As an audience member at the Dec. 16, 2024, meeting, Hamilton heckled her from the audience saying that Loveland did not need extra help if all cabins at the park were put on Airbnb.
Loveland stood her ground and explained how being on Airbnb would require more staff because offering the cabins on Airbnb required changing beds and linens while the non-Airbnb cabins did not provide bedding. The former park manager has several times explained to commissioners that each of the the stripped-down, no-frills cabins make the park more money than the cabin set up for Airbnb.
The latest example of the tension between the two women was at the Sept. 14 commission meeting, a very out-of-the-ordinary eight-hour marathon budget session. Loveland was called in five hours into the meeting after she was already off work. Hamilton took the park budget presentation time to lecture for 40 minutes about how all the departments budgets were set up with a capital outlay line item, including the park budget.
“I’m struggling with understanding what everyone considers to be a capital outlay,” said Hamilton. She continued to give her opinion on what the park and other departments do with their capital outlay funds.
“I think that the departments are thinking like what she just said. They’re putting money in capital outlay to hold onto it for the year and then transfer it at the end of the year to equipment reserves,” said Hamilton.
“I think that there needs to be another line item for something different in here,” Hamilton said, "you know, there’s capital outlay, commodities, contractual. I’m not sure. And salaries, but are other counties doing something different?”
After continuing to discuss capital outlay and the park budget, Handly told the commissioners, “I think it’s a pretty tight budget form.”
Commissioner Jason Hightower said, “I’m okay with it.”
Hamilton kept going, “Well I have some issues about how the cabin came out. Do you want to update any cabins? Why did that come out of contingency and not your budget for capital outlay?”
Loveland answered that the commission had not told her until November last year that she was remodeling a cabin.
“So, I didn’t budget for it last year,” Loveland continued, “and this year I used capital contingency outlay from the park so I just assumed I would be using . . . “
“Contingency outlay, oh,” interrupted Hamilton.”But do you want to do another one? Wasn’t that the goal? Didn’t we say that’s what we were going to do?”
Handly answered that there was $55,000 in capital outlay.
Hamilton continued pounding the issue, “But that is the problem I have with capital outlay. We are saying yes to $55,000 and we have no idea what we are doing with the money. I don’t see it. And that’s the problem I have.”
Hamilton then cut $30,000 from the park budget. The budget had been cut $47,000 the year before even as the commissioners talked about remodeling the cabins.
Loveland, who planned to retired midway through 2027, pointed out to Hamilton,”I’m leaving next year too, so your next person has to deal with this, not me.”
Loveland said the exchanges targeting her work at the park have been a source of frustration and anger. Back at the park office following the budget exchange, she let that frustration lead to characterize Hamilton in a two-word utterance that cannot be published in this article.
Since her dismissal, Loveland said she learned from a worker at the Kansas Employment
Office that the cause for her termination was what she called Hamiltion at the park office.
Since her termination, Loveland has been served “Reference Criminal Trespass” papers on Linn County Sheriff letterhead saying that she cannot go into the Linn County Park even though she has friends who live there.
A section of the notice says, “This request has been made by the owner/manager of this property. If you are found to be in violation of this, you will be arrested for this violation. This trespass warning is valid for twelve months or until the owner/manager removes their request.”
It cites Kansas Statute 21-5808 criminal trespass.The papers were signed by Deputy Justin Ungeheuer.
In a phone conversation, Sheriff James Akes said that Handly came to the sheriff’s office and requested the notice because Loveland had returned to the park after her termination.
Loveland said that she went there to pick up some items from friends.
Loveland said she did not understand the trespass issue as she had never committed any type of violence or made any threats to anyone.
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