History of Lexington City Administrators

[FormerLexingtonR esident]

1) Don Borgman -- Still fresh in everyone's mind, no need to review it.

2) Abie Tempel -- Remember the KCTV investigation from late 1995 in re dog carcasses found at the City Dog Pound (next to the wastewater treatment plant)? Abie said on camera that these dogs wandered down there to die of natural causes; but most had bullet wounds to the head. Abie was seldom present at City Hall during regular business hours there; frustrating for citizens and other City officials alike. Told us on City Council during one of her interviews before being hired that she would be able to bring in lots of state and federal grant money; City had to hire another person to serve as a grant writer. City spent down much of its reserve funds during Abie's tenure; new sources of revenue not found. And Abie was the one who convinced City Hall to try and cover up the theft, by the City Collector at that time in 1994, of over $6,000 in City funds; front page news when exposed and greatly diminished public trust in Lexington city government. Not well-liked by either department heads or city employees.

3) Jamie Bowden -- Not wise enough to avoid being entangled in mayor's nepotism controversy or the failed attempt to acquire the water company by hostile means (using insider info from an embezzler fired by the company).

4) Scott Botcher -- Apparently OK, but moved on to bigger and better things.

5) The original City Administrator hired by Lexington, Joe McReynolds, who got involved in a fistfight with the elected City Marshal over the department policy on facial hair; the Marshal wanted clean-shaven officers, and voters chose him to run the PD. Nothing in either city code or state law authorized an appointed city administrator ( not to be confused with city manager) to interfere in PD affairs.

A sad history, indeed.

[Optimist]

Well, the City is batting .200 when it comes to hiring administrators, anyway.

No worse than the people do in electing mayors.

[Optimist]

Is City Hall, even with input from a citizens committee as is being discussed by Council, capable of hiring a GOOD City Administrator who is willing to stay the course?

No drunken brawler, or guy looking for better opportunity elsewhere, or naive guy manipulated by crooks, or [I don't know how to describe Abie], or part-time crony of Boss Lawyer.

[A Citizen of Lexington]

I have a question?? How is it that the city can hirer a City Admin.,Head of Streets and plus they just hired a new Tourism Director when they can't even pay to have the streets fixed??? Don Borgman said the city needed to quit spending money and now after he has left see what the City is doing?? Spending money!!

[Optimist]

The newly-approved sales tax for street improvements and maintenance should take care of the worst problem areas -- assuming it's managed correctly.

There should always have been a Street Commissioner, just the formal title for head of the Street Dept. Preston Winningham was Street Commish for many years -- until Mayor Hayes fired him without cause. I thought that Jim Knott had taken over after Hayes also fired Bill Harris without cause.

Tourism has its place, but it's not a way to create hundreds (or even dozens) of good-paying jobs with benefits for local workers. Lexington should have gotten the Isle of Capri riverboat casino that went to Boonville.

I don't think that a City Administrator should be running day-to-day operations; that's what the City Clerk, Collector, Police Chief, Fire Chief/EMS Director, Street Commish, et al are doing now. What Lexington desperately needs is new business and industry, and grant money from the state and feds to create the public-private cooperation on an industrial park, etc. Any person hired as Administrator needs to be a qualified and experienced grant writer, to jumpstart this process.(And that's what we thought we were getting in Abie, but it was all puffery on her part).

Spending is always a matter of priorities.

Max R. Weller

[FormerLexingtonR esident]

"Optimist" should have been clearer in stating that historical tourism featuring antique stores, Lexington's model, doesn't create the numbers of good-paying jobs with benefits for local workers that my hometown cries out for.

Entertainment-oriented tourism featuring a riverboat casino does.

Strangely, many of Lexington's [hysterical] preservationists opposed a casino back in 1994 which voters had approved -- too dumb to realize that their little antique stores would have enjoyed more business from visitors to a Lexington, MO Isle of Capri riverboat.

Stupid is as stupid does...

[Doofus boy in Boulder]

Hey, maybe Lexington can hire Sarah Palin to bring home the bacon as City Administrator -- looks like McCain/Palin will lose in November and Sarah might be impeached and removed as Alaska governor ("Troopergate").

Sarah could show the local crooks at City Hall how to really cash in!

[missouriresident]

Sounds like a democratic conspiracy to me! It has already been disproven. Maybe the democratic rumors of Sarah having her daughters baby. That was a great one. Sarah will be our next VP and you all are running scared with these crazy lies and tactics because that is what a democrat does when there is nothing left to argue.

[whatever]

Go ahead and vote for obama. but dont whine when we are wearing diapers on our heads because he has no balls!!!!!!!!!!

[hotrodjim72]

Wow someone from the Elbow is on the Lexington Forum. Small world. I sure do miss BBQ sandwiches made at the Inn.

[Stumpy]

whatever wrote:

Go ahead and vote for obama. but dont whine when we are wearing diapers on our heads because he has no balls!!!!!!!!!!

How right you were back then. Look at where he has us now. I'm proud to live in a country that gives morons and idiots a chance to elect a new leader, no matter how stupid they are.

[Curious]

I remember that about the dog carcasses at the city pound....it was on TV. Who do you suppose did that?

[Germanicus]

Curious wrote:

I remember that about the dog carcasses at the city pound....it was on TV. Who do you suppose did that?

Well, since the critters had been shot in the head and dumped near the pound, speculation at that time centered on the Lexington Animal Control Officer. He was replaced shortly after ...