At Tuesday night’s Adel City Council meeting, one of the action items on the agenda involved the possible termination of City Clerk Jackie Steele.

According to the report filed against her, Steele had missed payments on two different City bills, for which she was written up. Additionally, she had an outburst in the office, reportedly shouting profanity at City Administrator Anthony Brown and Finance Officer Brittany Sandquist. She was placed on administrative leave, and Tuesday night was considered for removal. A resolution was brought before the Council, which included four different infractions given as grounds for termination. Steele was present for the meeting, and was given the opportunity to defend herself.

“I’m a little confused as to why I’m being considered for termination. I honestly think that since the incidents occurred, that I was never advised of termination being considered and that I was only going to be reprimanded or disciplined for the two write-ups. And I really didn’t think that the Council would even consider termination for me, just because of two unpaid bills and a few cuss words. Even though I’ve been here for five years, I’ve never had any previous write-ups or issues, and I had excellent job performance reviews, the two that I’ve had in the five years I’ve been here.”

Steele went on to say that she felt the verbage used in the resolution for order of removal was hurtful, and in some cases untrue. City Attorney Kristine Stone clarified that the wording in the resolution was taken directly from the employee handbook, and the issues were chosen by the City staff requesting the termination. Stone added that the Council could change the verbage used in the resolution if they found it necessary. The Council, though, didn’t feel a need to change the resolution in any way and moved it as presented.

Mayor Jim Peters opened the discussion up to the Council members, saying they could ask Steele questions, respond to her remarks, or otherwise comment on the situation. However, each remained silent, so Peters called for a vote. The Council unanimously approved the resolution, removing Steele from her post. Immediately following that, they also passed a resolution appointing Sandquist as the interim City Clerk. A permanent replacement will be chosen some time in the near future.