September 5, 2018
By Paragon News Director Paul Joseph –
Following a four hour city commission meeting, two executive sessions and the termination of a payroll clerk, the Mangum’s new city manager turned in her resignation and cleared out her desk Tuesday night.
Leisa Haynes had only been on the job about two months, but Mayor Mary Jane Scott says there were some things that needed attention.
Scott adds that it was a shame that it all ended up the way it did and, in fact, the mayor says there were a lot of good things that Haynes did. Many of which were mentioned during the regular city commission held on the first day after the Labor Day holiday.
Scott says among the items on the agenda included a discussion of an employee, Lola Nelson, who was terminate d during the meeting and a discussion of the city manager’s performance.
Haynes, who brought with her 17 years of responsibility in both state and city government, was recently interviewed by Paragon Communications after being on the job for several weeks. She said then that it had been a whirlwind learning experience, but felt blessed to be in her new position. The job at Mangum was her first as city manager.
Her resume included experiences involving the recruitment of more than 70 businesses to the communities where she’s lived and worked saying those businesses meant over 500 new jobs.
Haynes didn’t answer phone calls placed to her in Choctaw where she reportedly left for immediately following the Tuesday night meeting. Choctaw was the community she resided before moving into the Mangum job.
Mayor Scott says it’s back to the recruitment of a new city manager, a task she was involved with not too many months ago.
City staffers are working without a day to day leader, so Mayor Scott is addressing those concerns as well.
The former city manager, Haynes, also brought to the city experience as a certified downtown developer specialist and who was also certified as a negotiation and conflict resolution specialist.
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