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Former Eldridge city administrator cites conflict of interest in vote that got her fired

The former Eldridge city administrator, Lisa Kotter, said she plans to take legal action to fight being terminated from her role.

ELDRIDGE, Iowa — The former Eldridge city administrator, Lisa Kotter, said she plans to take legal action to fight being terminated from her role. 

The Eldridge City Council decided to fire Kotter from her position with a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Kotter and her attorney, Michael Meloy confirmed on Thursday that they planned to pursue legal avenues to overturn the vote, citing a conflict of interest for one of the voting councilmen. 

According to Meloy, Brian Dockery should have recused himself from the vote.  He had specifically been named in a gender discrimination complaint filed by Kotter back in August. 

Had Dockery not been part of the vote, it would have been a 2-2 tie, meaning Kotter would not have been fired. 

Kotter had been on paid administrative leave since August, after a city employee filed a sexual harassment complaint against her.  About 2 weeks after that complaint was filed, Kotter filed the gender discrimination complaint against three staff members.

On Tuesday, the council reviewed an investigative report that looked into both complaints.

The report and investigation was conducted by an attorney hired by the City of Eldridge. 

Ultimately, there was no evidence of sexual harassment, nor any gender discrimination found, but the report indicates Kotter created a hostile work environment and recommended she separate from city employment.

Read the full report here - WARNING - the report contains strong language and reader discretion is advised

Kotter's attorney has not yet determined whether they would file a lawsuit against the City of Eldridge, Councilman Dockery, or both.  They did say they would be working with an Iowa judge to enforce the conflict of interest laws.

In a statement released to News 8 on Thursday, Meloy says, "The Eldridge City Council voted on a split vote, 3-2, to terminate Lisa Kotter during a four-hour council meeting.  Councilman Dockery voted to terminate, along with two other councilmen Peeters and Blackwell, while two other councilmen Cheek and King voted to reinstate Ms. Kotter as City Administrator.  If Councilman Dockery recused himself the motion to terminate Lisa Kotter would have failed.

A conflict of interest exists here. Lisa Kotter filed a gender discrimination complaint against Councilman Dockery on August 16, 2021. Dockery could not in good faith vote to terminate Lisa Kotter and should have recused himself pursuant to the Iowa Code.   We will pursue all legal avenues to have a State Court Judge enforce the Iowa conflict-of-interest law."

Kotter also released a statement saying, "I made it clear that I want to return to work as City Administrator in the City of Eldridge.  Two Councilmen, Mr. King and Mr. Cheek agreed with me.   Councilmen King and Cheek voted against the termination motion made at the September 28, 2021 meeting.  They also offered motions to reinstate me as City Administrator. 

Ms. Snyder exonerated me from the claim of sexual harassment as there was no evidence of Mr. Nees’ claim. 

 However, I have serious concerns about the overall validity and accuracy of the Snyder report.    Ms. Snyder stated at a public meeting that she failed to interview a material witness, Angie King, an 11-year employee of the City who resigned in April of 2021. Ms. Snyder stated she did not interview Angie because she would have given Kotter a glowing report.   Ms. King was named two dozen times in that report but was never interviewed by Snyder."

Kotter joined the City of Eldridge in March of 2020, after serving a short stint as Moline's city administrator, resigning after about six months.

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