When Democrat County Clerk Kelley Stahlin (appointed by Jay Nixon) was defeated in an election by one of her own employees, Mary Baack-Garvey - what did she do? She fired her without cause.
Classy.
At the time it sounded like Stahlin was trying to get the county sued, and Baack-Garvey could have sued if she wanted to. Fortunately she's a better person than Stahlin is, and the story will have a happy ending.
Working with the County Commission and the County's attorney, Baack-Garvey's firing was reversed and she is instead being placed on 'administrative leave'. This decision will help protect the benefits she earned during her ten years of unemployment with little cost to the County.
Baack-Garvey won't be back in the Clerk's office until Stahlin's term is over (at which time we assume Staahlin will have to be escorted out by the police or maybe the national guard). Not that it matters much. Stahlin is refusing to cooperate with any transition effort, and is trying to create next year's budget without Baack-Garvey's input.
Our question is - should we expect any more nasty surprises from Stahlin? She's clearly intended to sabotage the County, first by exposing it to a lawsuit and second by refusing to help the transition effort. Whether she's motivated by childishness or a perverse desire to seek revenge on the voters or on Baack-Garvey is up to debate, but we're not sure she's totally done yet.
We half expect her to board herself up in the County Clerk's office and refuse to come out.
(Note: This is the same Kelley Stahlin who was fined $1,000 by the MEC for failing to file campaign finance reports.)
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