Brentwood Aldermen Vote No to Recouping Seemayer Mismanagement Losses

The city of Brentwood will not attempt to recoup losses caused by former city administrator Chris Seemayer’s decisions, the board of aldermen voted on Monday.

Seemayer repaid the city the $30,000 he embezzled as a result of the court decision. The BOA votes on Monday had to do with looking to other losses to the city caused by Seemayer.

Tom Kramer has added context to these closed session votes in an additional Patch article.

The city administrator and mayor are bonded by the city to ensure faithful performance of their jobs. If they fail in that, the city can be reimbursed for lost capital through the bond.

The board and mayor went into closed session for the discussion and vote. The results were revealed following the session when they returned to the chamber.

At Ward 1 Alderwoman Maureen Saunders’ request, the results of two votes were read.

The first was a motion to send the state audit of the city to Daniel and Henry Co., the blanket insurance company, and ask them to contact the bonding company. That vote went down 4-4.

The no votes were aldermen Anthony Harper and Maureen Saunders (both Ward 1), Lee Wynn (Ward 2), Keith Robertson (Ward 3). The yes votes were aldermen Tom Kramer and Patrick Toohey (both Ward 4), Cindy Manestar (Ward 2) and Andy Leahy (Ward 3). Mayor Pat Kelly abstained.

Following that, a motion was made to file a bond directly on Chris Seemayer’s bond. That vote went down, 5-3. Wynn, Robertson, Kramer, Toohey and Leahy voted no. Harper, Manestar and Saunders voted yes.

Saunders spoke in the public session, following the executive session. It seems the previous city policy of paying a bonus to employees for good job attendance was discussed in the closed session. The state audit of Brentwood stated the bonus was an illegal policy, and it has been discontinued.

“It’s very complicated, because our new employee manual had attendance pay in it, yet it’s against state statue, so now we’re taking it out,” Saunders said. “How are we supposed to know that, when the manual is approved by attorneys, and then the state auditors come in and say it’s illegal?”

She said it’s up to the aldermen to use their judgment when making decisions like this one. She also said the city should have filed on the bond immediately following Seemayer being found guilty.

A video of the meeting is posted on YouTube on the city website. 

This article, including the headline, includes corrections. It previously stated that the city of Brentwood had not been restituted for Seemayer's embezzlement. It was paid back.