Here is what happened, more or less. On a Sunday afternoon, Mr. City Manager gets this wild idea that he needs to do some REAL work as a diversion. He finds the keys to a city-owned tractor with bush hog attached, loads them onto a trailer and hauls them across town to an area that is being developed into a hiking/jogging/biking trail along the right-of-way of a former railroad. He proceeds to DONATE his time to do some mowing that MIGHT otherwise need to be done by a city worker being paid overtime. It is hot. When he arrives at the far end of this strip of ground, Mr. City Engineer (not really, just a title) drives up. He hands Mr. City Manager a bottle of beer. Mr. City Manager immediately returns to mowing. A short time later he is flagged down by an angry landowner who tells him to get off his private property. A dispute arises. One side says only a loud discussion took place. The other side says there was chest beating and head bumping involved as well as VERY coarse language. The cops arrive on scene. The landowner wants to file charges of trespass and assualt. Eventually, Mr. City Manager is allowed to continue mowing back to where he had left the trailer. He returns the tractor and bush hog to its original location.
The next morning, a city employee discovers that the bush hog is missing the blades and the bolt holding the assembly to the drive system. Mr. City Manger is called. He is shocked. Then tells them that there was a rather large noise once, but, that he didn't realize anything was wrong.
The local newspaper has a field day with the entire event. Especially as Mr. City Manager was in direct violation of an employee policy which he had signed as City Manager about two months earlier. That policy deals with city employees having alcohol on city property AT ANY TIME. The irate landowner forced the city to hire an impartial land surveyor to determine the true location of the property line in question ($1600 is what I've heard). The city commission voted 3-2 to give him a slap on the wrist and 4 months of probation. It turns out the two negative votes were cast because they felt the punishment was too minor and wanted him treated with the same punishment that would be given to the lowest of the lowly city employees.
The local newspaper reported all the interesting stuff and gave Mr. City Manager some time to consider his actions before interviewing him for his response to all of the attacks. Did I mention that he is a VERY ARROGANT type of fellow? The quote accompanying his picture on the front page story was "I'm not an elected official. I shouldn't have to take this crap." The reporter told us that he wouldn't have used that quote except for the fact that Mr. City Manager said it a half dozen times thus suggesting he wanted that to be printed.
That's a hard story to beat, but we had a city manager once who at least came close. This guy, who at the time (mid-80s?) was making the equivalent of about $150k per year, got caught loading into the trunk of his car a $600 Cuisinart that he had taken from a local housewares store. He claimed that he just "forgot to pay for it," but the store pressed shoplifting charges against him.
He was powerfully disliked by just about everyone he managed, so his subsequent resignation was hardly a cause for despair on the part of city employees.
