Public works head 'ends' county zoning director's employment

By Charlene Sims

MOUND CITY – At the end of the Monday, Sept. 22, Linn County Commission meeting, Public Works Director Jesse Walton announced to the commission that he had ended the employment of Planning and Zoning Director Ben Souza. As the supervisor of Souza, Walton had the ability to to do that without the commissioners’ approval.

Souza, who is the husband of County Clerk Danielle Souza, was the second zoning administrator to leave that post unexpectedly in the past six months. Kent Harris resigned the post in early April after serving only two months. He was hired to replace former zoning director Darin Wilson, who had been working on a part-time basis to help out after resigning the post on Nov. 1, 2024. He had been zoning director for several years before that.

Souza’s firing came a week after Chris Martin, head of the county's information technology department, notified the commission that he had installed tracking software for the public works department. Martin reported that he had set up an interface for Walton so he could see where all of the public works devices like cell phones and tablets were on his computer screen.

During Souza’s four-month tenure as zoning director, the Journal received reports from verifiable sources that he was spending hours at home during working hours and that he was using the county’s vehicle for personal use, including trips to Fort Scott.

When the Journal first received blurry but distinguishable photographs on June 10 of Ben Souza at a ball game putting kids in the county truck, Journal staff checked with County Clerk Souza about the issue. The Journal was told that issues regarding Ben Souza had been turned over to Rose Mohler the Deputy Clerk/Human Resources Officer and that Walton should be asked about any questions involving this issue.

Walton, when reached by the Journal staff after several phone calls and asked about Ben Souza’s personal use of pickup declined comment.

After more recent reports surfaced that the zoning director was again using the pickup for personal errands at Fort Scott and that he was at home during working hours, Walton told the Journal reporter that he had not noticed that the truck had been out of the county’s parking lot that much.

No specific reason was given for ending Souza’s employment because of confidentiality surrounding employee issues.