Diamond City Sees Mass Resignations, then Return of Several Elected Officials and Staff

A wild 48 hours in Diamond City that saw many officials return to their positions after resigning.

It started on Tuesday while many people were going to the polls for the state's Primary Election, some major announcements were coming out of the Diamond City Council Meeting.

A video posted on the city's Facebook Page detailed what happened including shortly after their City Council Meeting got underway, the council went into Executive Session for over 30 minutes and when they emerged, it was announced that Treasurer Eva West was resigning later this month due to a career opportunity. 

The meeting then took a turn when Mayor Jamie Nuessner also turned in his resignation, citing family concerns and other reasons that he said didn't matter. Nuessner had been the Mayor of Diamond City for just over three years. Nuessner then turned the meeting over to City Recorder Kathy Pate as he stated was required by law. While Pate tried to continue with the meeting, what followed was more resignations, including Police Chief Troy Burleson, who accused Pate of a personal agenda in undermining the city's efforts. Other resignations followed including four of the six council members, several of who also pointed the finger at Pate for issues in the city. 

Then in a Special Meeting Thursday night, many of the officials returned and rescinded their resignations, including both the Police Chief and Public Works Director as well as several council members. Councilman Larry Hurtt tells Ozarks First the council members and employees rescinded their resignations – except for the mayor. Hurtt says the council never voted on the resignations on Tuesday so they never officially took effect.

Caleb Alexander of the Arkansas Municipal League tells KY-3 News that because most of the resignations were not voted on by the City Council, they were allowed to be withdrawn. 

Public Works Director Johnny Burleson tells KY-3 News that he hopes the mass resignations sent a message about the internal issues the city was facing. 

Pate will continue to be acting Mayor of Diamond City until the Council can appoint a new Mayor at a future meeting.