The East Ridge City Council decided to hire J. Scott Miller as our next City Manager but only after Councilman Jacky Cagle grilled him during a special called meeting, Thursday at City Hall.

Councilman Cagle was concerned over Miller’s formal reason for leaving his job as CM in Leavenworth, Kansas, as well as him having been named in a Federal law suit while he was employed there.

Cagle referred to several news articles from the Leavenworth Times where Miller was quoted as saying his reason for leaving after eight years was that he “wanted to do something else with his life.” Cagle reminded Miller and the council that during Miller’s interview with the City of East Ridge he cited his reason for leaving the Leavenworth job was due to health concerns.

In addition, Cagle said he found out through the Leavenworth Times that Miller was named in a “whistleblower” lawsuit which alleged involvement of fraud in FEMA payments to Leavenworth.

Cagle said that during Miller’s first interview with the council that Miller said there was nothing in his background that would embarrass East Ridge or come back to “haunt” him if he accepted the position of City Manager here.

“If that FEMA fraud deal is not a haunt, I don’t know what is,” Cagle said.

Miller told the council that the lawsuit was filed against the city of Leavenworth and that it was meritless. He went on to say that the federal government had dropped the suit, even though the Department of Justice reserved the right to actively pursue it in the future. Miller said the DOJ action was “standard language.”

J. Scott Miller talks to city employees after Thursday’s City Council meeting.

“I didn’t expect to find any of this,” Cagle said. “It kind of busted my bubble.”

Mayor Brent Lambert asked City Attorney Hal North how many lawsuits the City of East Ridge currently had pending. North said there were a handful of them.

Lambert said that East Ridge City Council members were named as parties in a lawsuit filed against the city by the Hamilton County Water & Wastewater Treatment Authority.

“It happens,” Lambert said in regard to city officials being named individually in lawsuits against government entities.

Lambert went on to say that the allegations made against the City of Leavenworth had been thoroughly investigated by the FBI which found “no credible evidence.”

Vice Mayor Marc Gravitt said that the “whistleblower” suit may have been brought by a disgruntled employee. Gravitt said that with Miller’s experience he had “no question or doubts that (Miller) would do our city a fine job.”

Miller said that it never crossed his mind during the first interview that being a party to a meritless lawsuit would be something that would “haunt” him. He said that he began his career in city government administration in 1976 and that if there were any legitimate skeletons in his closet they would have been exposed.

“Somebody could file a suit next week and name me in it,” he said. “As far as skeletons, I had a speeding ticket in ‘Alligator Alley’ in Florida where I was going four miles over the 55 miles per hour speed limit.”

Miller candidly told the council that he did have a health problem that has been addressed. He underwent surgery to remove part of his colon and made a full recovery. He said after the surgery he felt 20 years younger.

Miller went on to explain that when he retired last year his days were spent walking his dog and working out in the gym. He said that he missed the work.

“At that time I decided I wanted to get back into the profession,” Miller said.

Following the meeting, Miller and City Attorney North came to terms on the details of an employment agreement for Miller.

According to that agreement, Miller’s salary will be $110,000 a year. The city will pay for his health insurance that supplements his Medicare, ($160.80 per month). The city will pay up to $2,500 in moving expenses. If he is terminated without cause within the first year, Miller will receive one month base pay. If he is fired after his first year on the job, he will get four months base salary. If Miller is terminated for cause, the city will provide no severance.

The vote to enter into the employment agreement with Miller was 4-1, with Councilman Denny Manning voting no.

Miller’s first day on the job will be June 1.