Former Pleasanton administrator denies job-seeking intentions, deputy clerk resigns following council complaints
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
PLEASANTON – While rumors continue to float around the city of Pleasanton that former city administrator and clerk Teresa Whitaker wants to return to her post, Whitaker was clear in her intentions on Monday when she addressed the Pleasanton City Council.
“I don’t need a job,” she said. “I have a job.”
Whitaker, who along with her husband and former councilmember Joe Whitaker, now lives in Osawatomie and has been employed by the city since the couple moved there after she retired from Pleasanton in 2024. She recently was moved to the codes enforcement department.
City codes require that the clerk be a resident of Pleasanton.
Whitaker actually was at the meeting to address the city council on another matter: She demanded that Councilmember John Bowley apologize for his statement at the Aug. 31 meeting that she was fired from her position.
She pointed out that she had retired and that saying she was fired damaged her professional reputation.
Bowley said he couldn’t recall saying that, but Whitaker insisted that the livestream video of the August meeting at approximately and hour and nine minutes into the meeting showed him making the accusation.
While Whitaker’s comments came as the council and residents of Pleasanton were keenly aware that the city has been without a city clerk since Candy Houtman resigned earlier in the summer.
Since Houtman’s departure, Deputy City Clerk Morgan Watts has been handling the duties of the clerk’s post, and at the meeting on Aug. 31, Mayor Matthew Young appointed Watts to fill the clerk’s post on a permanent basis.
The council balked at the appointment, voting 3 to 2 against it. Councilmembers Rochelle Shreckhise, Sandy Haynes and Kenny Stark voted against accepting the appointment; Councilmembers Alex Wills and John Bowley voted to approve it.
According to state statute, the city council had to either vote to confirm Watts’ appointment as city clerk or pass a resolution that she was unqualified or unfit for the post within 45 days of the appointment. If they did not confirm or approve a resolution by Oct. 15, Watts would automatically be confirmed as city clerk.
Toward the end of Monday’s meeting, Schreckhise asked that a resolution be drafted to declare Watts unqualified or unfit. Schreckhise said that several times she has asked Watts for information that she never received.
The council member said that if she could not get financial information from the clerk’s office in a timely manner, it hampered her ability to make sound decisions.
Before a vote could be taken Councilmember Bowley questioned why Councilmember Sandy Haynes had continually recused herself from voting on Watts’ appointment as deputy clerk but did not on the city clerk position.
In a separate interview, the mayor explained that Watts and Haynes, while not related, were close and that Watts referred to Haynes as Aunt Sandy. Bowley’s question appeared to be directed at why Haynes would change her position and vote against Watts.
He also leveled the charge that many Watts supporters have been saying: She hasn’t had enough time for proper training to do the job.
Before any of those issues could be adequately addressed, Watts, who had been sitting at the clerk’s desk taking minutes throughout the meeting, sprung out of her seat, carrying copies of what may have been a letter of resignation to the mayor.
Obviously prepared for Schreckhise’s request, Watts announced her immediate resignation and said that it had been a privilege to work for the city along with her co-workers and thanked the council for the opportunity.
“However, there are ongoing challenges within the workplace, including what I feel has been excessive micromanagement by the city council, a hostile working environment, a lack of proper training tools and resources to perform my duties effectively,” Watts said. “I no longer feel that I can continue in this position.”
“I believe that under such circumstances I am unable to perform my responsibilities to the standards I have set for myself and the residents of Pleasanton deserve,” she added before handing a resignation letter to the mayor.
She then promptly left the building, carrying her handwritten minutes with her.
After Watts’ departure, the mayor asked the council how they wanted to proceed. Schreckhse suggested that they look at one of the applications recently submitted for the job, but it seemed that Young wasn’t supporting any of those candidates and suggested the position be advertised.
It was not the first time Watts has criticized micromanagement by the council. In a conversation with her following the resignation of Houtman, she said one of the main reasons for Houtman’s departure was micromanagement.
In an interview on Wednesday, Young said that even though Watts submitted her resignation as deputy clerk, his appointment of Watts to be city clerk has not been withdrawn and is still on the table.
With the next council meeting currently scheduled for Oct. 12 unless city hall closes for Columbus Day, the council will likely need to call a special meeting to vote to sign the resolution on Watts’ fitness for the post before they can look at other candidates.
Watts’ departure is the latest in defections from the city. The mayor on Monday confirmed that longtime police chief Tristan Snyder was leaving his post but would be continuing to work as a city police officer on a part-time basis. When asked if the city could get Snyder to come back, the mayor said he is already working on the force at Osawatomie.
Young said he planned to advertise the police chief position.
Snyder served on the city’s police force for more than a dozen years, most of that as chief. When she was city administrator, Teresa Whitaker was adamant that the city pay enough to keep him on board.
However, Snyder over the past couple of years came under fire, first for having too many officers on board. And then when the force shrank to just him and one other officer, he was criticized for racking up overtime pay when he responded to calls because the only certified officers he could hire lived in Fort Scott because they couldn’t find affordable housing in Pleasanton.
In late August after the council voted to sign an open-ended $22,000 minimum contract with a headhunter company to perform a search for a city clerk, Snyder openly challenged the council decision to cut wages and benefits while hiring that company.
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