Junction City Manager Gerald Smith has tendered his resignation.  He has been placed on administrative leave.

Those are the developments that were revealed following two Junction City Commission executive sessions Tuesday night at the Municipal Building.

JCPost.com talked with Smith Tuesday night. “Well, the City Commission has decided that they no longer require me as their City Manager, so we mutually agreed to go our separate ways.” Smith confirmed that he did resign, and that the City will honor his agreement that calls for a severance. He said the City is honoring the severance requirements including a six month payment totaling  $55,000.

Smith said he will be on administrative leave until a seven-day holding period expires, and then the City Commission needs to take legislative action to accept the agreement.

Smith has been under fire since his recent State of the City address in which he submitted a number of recommendations to help the City deal with major debt and infrastructure problems.  They ranged from requirements for a business licensing program to changes in the Economic Development Commission and appointment process. Chamber of Commerce officials,  in particular, had been vocal in expressing concern publicly about the business licensing fees which would be based on various criteria ranging from total square footage for retail, commercial, and industrial businesses to occupancy loads for restaurants, sports bars, and bars and taverns.

Smith stated some people felt they they already knew the information that was contained in the State of the City address. “Well, again, I wasn’t talking to that population. I was trying to talk to the overall community that didn’t have that information. I met a number of residents in town who just didn’t know what was going on with the City. That’s why the State of the City address was sort of a refresher for them, and for me at the same time, to at least them know how we got where we were, and what we needed to in order to make the City a better city and a better managed city.”

Smith explained obviously some people didn’t like the delivery of the message and “more importantly the recommendations.” He added it’s the city manager’s job to make recommendations and the job of the City Commission to deliberate on those recommendations, to either accept or reject them.

Smith has been employed by the City for approximately six months.

Mayor Mike Ryan confirmed Tuesday night that

Smith has been placed on administrative leave, but could not answer other questions following the executive sessions that had been scheduled to discuss personnel matters of nonelected personnel and attorney client privilege.    Ryan did have a brief meeting following the second executive session with Assistant City Manager Cheryl Beatty.