The Edinburgh Town Council voted Monday to begin a search for a new town manager after the council fired former town manager J.T. Doane last week.
The council made its Friday decision to appoint Edinburgh Town Council members Jeff Simpson and Ryan Piercefield interim co-town managers official. The town manager is responsible for operations of the town of about 4,600 in southern Johnson County.
The town will advertise the job in local newspapers covering Johnson, Bartholomew, Shelby and Marion counties, as well as an online job board for 30 days, starting as soon as possible.
After the advertisement period, Clerk-Treasurer Scott Finley and Administrative Services Director Mary Patterson will review applications and forward candidates to the town council for consideration, Finley said.
The council will then meet in executive session, a closed-door meeting allowed under state law for certain circumstances such as this, to choose which applicants they want to interview and schedule those interviews for early December, Simpson said.
Doane was fired after town officials received evidence he had been paying an employee of the Edinburgh Electric Department $480 a month from his personal bank account, said Dustin Huddleston, town attorney. Town officials are not sure what Doane was paying the employee for, but know he had been paying them since March, he said. Doane made $75,000 a year, according to his contract with the town, which had no expiration date.
Doane is also under criminal investigation. But Huddleston nor Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess would elaborate on what charges are being pursued, if any.
The decision to fire Doane came after the town council met in executive session Oct. 21 to discuss Doane’s job performance, Huddleston said. According to town documents, Doane was not listed as an attendee of that meeting as he had been for other executive sessions, which are closed-door meetings allowed under state law for certain circumstances such as job performance evaluations.
After the meeting, Doane submitted a letter of resignation, but the council rejected it, choosing to fire him instead, Huddleston said. The letter did not reveal any additional details or provide a reason for the attempted resignation.
“I hereby submit my letter of resignation effective 10/22/2020,” the letter said.
This is not the first time the Bargersville resident was removed from a town leadership position.
Before the council hired him to work for Edinburgh in May 2019, Doane had been dismissed as town manager in Hope, a job he held from July 2016 to December 2018.
Hope Town Council members expressed concerns about how Doane had spent his time. One council member told The Republic Doane had confidential meetings with individuals and groups that should have involved council members, while another council member was concerned that the town hall — which also houses the police department — was unoccupied during lunch hours.
Multiple requests for comment have not been returned by Doane.
