Foster quits Rocky Top city manager post

February 22, 2023 by G. Chambers Williams III

Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster turned in his resignation to the City Council last Thursday night during the council’s February meeting, effective March 31.

Foster, who has served in the position since 2016 when the city charter was changed to a city manager form of municipal government, had been working under increasing negativity from the new mayor and council majority since they took office in December.

Mayor Kerry Templin and the council approved a “severance agreement” with Foster during the meeting that will ensure that Foster gets paid “a lump sum equal to four months aggregate salary, accrued leave, and benefits,” including the $500-a-month car allowance that his employment contract dictates.

The city also agreed to maintain existing health insurance coverage for Foster through July 31.

To replace Foster, at least temporarily until a permanent replacement can be recruited, Templin recommended that the council consider hiring Michael Ellis, an Anderson County High School teacher, former girls’ basketball coach, and former Anderson County road superintendent, as the interim city manager for up to six months.

Council members were given Ellis’ resume, and Templin set a special meeting of the City Council for 6 p.m. Thursday, March 2, to consider hiring Ellis as of April 1.

The mayor said Ellis is retiring from the Anderson County school system and would be available to take the city manager’s position the day after Foster’s employment ends.

Under a contract proposed for the interim city manager, distributed to council members before last week’s meeting, Ellis would be paid $55,000 per year plus a “standard benefits package.”

The duration of employment would be six months initially, or “until a permanent city manage is hired.” But extension of the position beyond the initial six months would require approval of the council.

Terms of the proposed interim manager’s contract are subject to change, however, as they have not yet been considered by the council. The details are expected to be determined during the March 2 council meeting.

Foster, who also is an elected Anderson County commissioner serving District 2, was targeted by Templin and two council candidates allied with him in last year’s city election.

Templin defeated longtime Mayor Timothy Sharp in the November election, and his two allied council candidates, Mack Bunch and Jeff Gilliam, also won the two council seats that were on the ballot.

They had campaigned on a pledge to replace Foster as city manager, saying primarily that they believed he was not as in touch with the citizens as they felt he should be.

On Jan. 31, Templin chaired a special council “workshop” meeting to discuss his proposal to change the city charter to eliminate the city manager form of government and return to the strong mayor-council setup the city had prior to 2016’s charter revision.

“I’d like to see it go back to a mayor-council arrangement, with a city manager or administrator option, but where our elected officials have more involvement in the day-to-day operations,” Templin said in calling for the workshop. “Under the mayor-council setup, you would have a water commissioner, streets commissioner, recreation commissioner, and so forth.

“I think there is a tremendous downside to the situation we’re in right now,” he said. “It seems the citizens feel they are not as involved and represented by the city government as they should be. They elect us to represent them, but they only see us at monthly board meetings. I’d like to change that.”

During that meeting, which Foster did not attend, Foster was the target of a small group of people – some residents of Rocky Top and some not – who called for his removal from the city manager’s job. Their major complaint was that potholes in front of their homes were not being filled in a timely manner.

One resident even made a death threat against Foster during the workshop.

Speaking of Foster, resident James Jenkins stood up and said:

“The next time I come in here and he raises his voice to me because I have a question, I’ll drag him out into the parking lot and I’ll beat him to death.”

The previous council, which had heaped praise on the job Foster had been doing over the past six years, voted unanimously in September to renew Foster’s contract as city manager for five more years.

Then-candidate Templin objected to Foster’s contract extension at the time, but had no way to block it.

After Foster’s resignation was announced at last Week’s meeting, Templin said, “You have done a good job with the budget. … The city owes you a debt.”

In reply, Foster said, “We’ve come a long way (over the years of his employment). … I wish the best for the city.”

Foster is credited with bringing in millions of dollars in state and federal grants for the city during his tenure, as well as bringing the city’s troublesome budget under control and maintaining a positive fund balance.

He also has overseen a massive project to upgrade the city’s aging sanitary sewer system, which has been aided by some of the large grants he has been able to secure.