A Kansas city manager has been suspended — and is expected to be fired — after staffers were sent emails showing him masturbating on a couch.
A disturbing video of Shawnee City Council’s $190,000-a-year manager, Doug Gerber, was emailed to several employees from an anonymous account with the subject line: “MOST IMPORTANT.”
It appears to have been recorded by Gerber, who also appeared to be alone during the sex act, according to the Kansas City Star, which reviewed the tape after obtaining email records through a public information request.
Exactly who sent the clip — and how they obtained it — was not immediately clear.
“This is just a disturbed individual trying to cause trouble with the city,” a city IT employee wrote to staff in suburban Kansas City.
A disturbing video of Shawnee City Council’s $190,000-a-year manager, Doug Gerber, was emailed to several employees from an anonymous account with the subject line: “MOST IMPORTANT.”City of Shawnee
However, the anonymous sender told the Kansas City Star in an email exchange that they wanted to expose Gerber’s online behavior — suggesting the masturbation clip was meant to seduce someone, apparently without evidence.
Doug Gerber, the city manager of Shawnee, Kansas, was placed on administrative leave over the scandal. City of Shawnee
“We do not hesitate to expose people who engage in these dubious and un-Catholic practices,” the sender wrote.
Gerber had been investigated over rumors of “impropriety” before he was hired in March, council president Eric Jenkins confirmed to the Star, without further comment.
The consultant leading the job search, however, assured them that “he really looked into Mr. Gerber’s background and found nothing that would give us a reason not to select him,” Jenkins said.
Still, Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler said she was “not too surprised” by the scandal because of unspoken concerns about Gerber’s behavior at his previous job in Topeka.
The Shawnee City Council hired Gerber earlier this year, despite rumors of his “impropriety.”KMBC
“What I know is that during the process of hiring the city manager, the governing body was informed about the previous issues and accusations against Mr. Geber,” he said in a statement.
“Additional concerns I raised during that discussion were dismissed, and the council went on to select Mr. Gerber, stating he most closely aligned with their values.”
Local newspapers stated that Gerber could be a victim under a state law that prohibits such sexual material from being shared without permission.
However, the city council held an emergency meeting late Wednesday and unanimously voted to place Gerber on administrative leave – in part for keeping the scandal a secret for more than a month.
Shawnee City Council held emergency meeting, unanimously voted to place Gerber on administrative leave.KMBC
“This email was received at City Hall, we were told, Sept. 29. I didn’t find out about this situation until Halloween night,” said Jenkins, the council president, more than a month later.
“If he failed to communicate on this, what else did he fail to communicate?” Jenkins told KCTV.
“I mean, this is the first big test he’s had, and he didn’t do well. So I think our actions are justified, they are measured.”
An interim manager is being selected, and Gerber is expected to be fired, said Jenkins, who told KCTV he doesn’t “see how this guy can move forward as our chief of staff and the person who will be our manager as city manager.”
The city council is expected to meet on Nov 6 to appoint an interim city manager.KMBC
Three city council candidates issued a joint statement calling for an investigation into the actions of Gerber and the city council in the month after the video was first shared.
Gerber declined to discuss the scandal, including why someone would send the video and why it wasn’t disclosed to council members earlier.
“I think it’s not in the city’s best interest right now to comment,” Gerber told the Kansas City Star.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
