Hanford City Manager, Hilary Straus, resigns without notice Sunday. "Mr. Straus verbally gave us his resignation, the City Attorneys, his resignation Sunday afternoon. He did not give a reason why," said Assistant City Attorney, Mario Zamora.
CBS47 obtained documents last week, an anonymous person claims to have filed complaints that Straus and Council Member Dan Chin were involved in corruption and misconduct. The complaints were allegedly filed with the Kings County Grand Jury and teh Department of Justice. Council Member Chin recently stepped down as mayor.
New Mayor, Sue Sorensen, responded to the allegations with a written statement Friday. The statement says in part "If there are allegations that those Governmental bodies deem credible enough to warrant investigation, we trust that they wil do so. However, the City Council will not overstep its jurisdiction and investigate anonymous allegations."
After her statement on Friday, City Council had a closed door session Saturday. "That was agendized for a personel matter, a public employee discipline, dismisal or release," said Zamora. City Manager Straus resigned the next day.
Straus' Employment agreement says he is eligible for a severance package equal to one year's salary of $160,000, if the City terminates his employment. It's unclear if Straus will get any severance pay since he resigned. The Hanford City Council will be deciding his severance pay and filling the now vacant City Manager position in the near future.
"They'll find somebody who's willing to do it on an interim basis, until they can find a more permanent replacement," said Zamora.
A City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 6p.m. The meeting is open to the public.