With Thanksgiving Day just four days away, an atmosphere of gratitude and well wishes prevailed over brief moments of unpleasantness during the Nov. 25 meeting of the Ellsworth City Council.

The council, along with those department heads present and several members of the public, thanked Ellsworth City Administrator Dustin Stambaugh for all he had done for Ellsworth during his tenure, and wished him good luck in his new job as city administrator of Fairfax, Iowa.

Stambaugh submitted his resignation Nov. 20. It will take effect Dec. 27. He starts his new job Jan. 6.

Stambaugh pledged to make sure the council, city staff and city department heads have all they need to ensure a complete and successful transition to an interim administrator.

“You will be getting an exit letter with all that information,” he said.

After the council accepted his resignation and that he stay in his job until Dec. 27, Stambaugh thanked the council, city department heads and public for their support during his tenure.

“I couldn’t have done anything I’ve accomplished without your support,” he said.

Stambaugh told the city staff they are the reason he came to work each day.

“Thank you all,” he said. “We gather together to have our council meeting,” said Mayor Dan Finnegan, “but more importantly, to celebrate democracy and free speech. For many tonight, this will be an opportunity to say goodbye to our city administrator who has taken another position. For others, this is a re-ignition of our democracy and the beginning of a new era in Ellsworth.

“A new era allows for a chance to get things right. It will require faith,

“To those of you sitting in this room celebrating that Dustin is leaving, shame on all of you. We should want to help the people who come here to make our city a better place, not drive them out.”

Darcy Hansen

Ellsworth City Council Member and community activists like Mary Schmidt in this city.

“As your mayor, I set out in 2021 to be an impactful mayor, and at times, a transcendent mayor. Sometimes this philosophy is congruent with popularity and sometimes it is not, but in my mind, being impactful is always about doing the right thing.

Let’s have a productive meeting and let’s meet the challenges before us with positivity and hope for our cities, our families, friends and fellow elected officials.”

Council member Darcy Hansen then spoke up.

“To say it was a shock to find out that Dustin was leaving would not be true,” she said. “He has honestly stuck this out way longer than I would have with all the animosity and hatred that has been thrown at him.

While I know this is not the only reason he is leaving, I’m sure it had to play a part in his decision. “To those of you sitting in this room celebrating that Dustin is leaving, shame on all of you. We should want to help the people who come here to make our city a better place, not drive them out.

The fact that you have done nothing for these past 10 months but to try to make his life here as miserable as possible and force him out is just sad.

Not one of us in this room is perfect and we all have faults. It would be a shame if people started coming forward with your skeletons and sharing them for everyone to find out about.

“We are supposedly a city with pride, but the last few months we have been far from that. If anything, the chaos that has ensued this past year is more fitting to the Wickedest Cowtown in Kansas.”

Hansen said if those who think Stambaugh’s leaving is going to miraculously fix the differences between the mayor and the council, they should think again.

“There’s been a lot of hurtful things said and done that have nothing to do with Dustin that may never repair themselves,” she said. “We will work together for the greater good because that is what we’re elected to do, but the camaraderie will never be the same.”

Hansen noted the chances of Ellsworth finding a strong, competent person to lead the city will be tough, especially if that candidate decides to truly research the last year of the city.

“We have some big projects coming up and we need good leadership to help us get those jobs accomplished,” Hansen said. “I’m going to pray that we can find one that is not afraid to ruffle feathers while also being able to help us grow as a city.”

“You’ve been a real asset since you’ve been here,” Recreation Director Ronnie Tenbrink told Stambaugh, “and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

“I just want to say thank you to you guys, and especially to Dustin,” Jan Bontrager said. “I am very sad and discouraged at his decision to feel the need to resign and move on. I want to thank you personally and publicly for the very many proactive programs and policies that you have been implementing within our city and working so well with our city council. And for giving me, personally, support on our Pines Apartments. I will be very sad to see you go. I pray that you have a better reception where you are going.”

In light of Stambaugh’s resignation, Councilman Don Panzer stressed that the council needs to think about the bigger picture.

“We’re at the start of a $10 million water treatment plant facility,” he said, “and Dustin has been working on a $2 million loan forgiveness program, and we need to keep this up-front with everybody about how important this is to the community. The city needs that, and we’re responsible to the citizens of the city to do all we can to get that $2 million loan forgiveness.”

City Attorney Patrick Hoffman said he has been thinking about several things in light of Stambaugh’s resignation.

“One thing I was thinking about was I have a philosophy as city attorney that really, part of that role is to sit in the back and not say anything in the meeting,” he said. “Believe it or not, that’s really my goal, but at the same time, I was thinking how can I help?

What can be offered to help you (the council)?

Obviously, things are not going the way any of us wanted to.”

Hoffman suggested the council take a step back and look at the broader view of Ellsworth city government.

“Do we need to tinker with the structure itself,” he asked. “Do we need to do some more structural things to improve things?” The next meeting of the Ellsworth City Council will be at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 9, at city hall. This will be the city council’s only regularly scheduled meeting in December.