Just prior to last night’s last night’s City Council session, the Council was informed the mayor had obtained new information about City Administrator candidate Stefan Chatwin which required more due diligence on the mayor’s part. Therefore, Mr. Harding requested the City Council Agenda be amended to remove his request for Chatwin’s appointment. Then, Mr. Harding did not attend last night’s City Council meeting, deferring to Mayor Pro-tem Tracey Wood to conduct the session. WHY? No explanation was given.
– Editor’s note:
If Mr. Harding performed a thorough due diligence by calling Council members in Hayden, ID and/or Santaquin, UT about Chatwin, then the Yelm City Council would not have been put in this position and more time lost on a City Administrator appointment. Chatwin’s two prior City Administrator resignations and a vote of no-confidence raise significant red flags themselves, covered here previously. And next week, the City of Yelm marks 11 months since former City Administrator Badger announced her resignation.
Perhaps Mayor Harding felt he should defer from being present in the Council’s discussion on the this new information when they went into Executive Session, however that is very suspicious. If there was further incriminating evidence Mr. Harding possessed about City Administrator candidate Chatwin over and above what has been publicly covered here, then why had that been hidden from the council and the public?
If Harding purposefully withheld any information he had about Chatwin from the Council, then the mayor should be sanctioned by the Yelm City Council.
Will Harding withdraw or submit Chatwin for approval at the next Council session on May 10th?
Stay tuned!
– Bottom line
With Mayor Harding’s absence from a controversial meeting highlighting his lack of due diligence, and the fact that Yelm’s former City Administrator Badger announced her resignation almost 11 months ago and that post remains vacant, the Harding era in Yelm IS coming to an end.
This is not a leader for the present and the future!
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