New City Administrator to be Named Monday

The name of Brentwood's new city administrator is expected to be announced during Monday night's Board of Aldermen meeting.

The board is scheduled to vote on an ordinance that would authorize the new administrator's employment with the city. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at .

The mayor and aldermen held a closed meeting to approve a contract offer on June 2, and the new city administrator accepted the offer the next day. Mayor Pat Kelly said the new administrator didn't want to go public until the ordinance was approved.

The administrator previously worked another position in St. Louis County. He holds an MBA and "is strong in budgeting," Kelly said .

The appointment follows former city administrator Chris Seemayer's sudden and unexplained resignation on March 11 after 22 years with the city. Seemayer abruptly resigned after the Board of Aldermen was called to a special meeting to discuss personnel matters on March 10.

No notice was given to the public about this closed meeting because of an emergency, Kelly said. It's not clear whether officials discussed Seemayer's resignation or not.

City officials have declined to comment on the nature of this meeting, and the public is entitled to very little information under the Missouri Sunshine Law. Minutes taken from the meeting show the following details:

• All eight aldermen and the mayor were present.
• Three city staff members were present: interim city administrator Ellen Rottjakob, finance officer Karen Mosby and police chief Steve Disbennett.
• Chris Hesse, a labor attorney specializing in discrimination cases, was also present. 
• The meeting lasted roughly 45 minutes.

Multiple calls to Seemayer's home have gone unreturned. City officials have declined to comment on his sudden resignation.

"All I can tell you right now: It's an employment matter, which I can't discuss," city attorney Frank Albrecht said.

The mayor led the city's search for a new city administrator throughout the past few months. About 40 applications were accepted for the city administrator job, and about 10 of them were quality applicants, Kelly said. Negotiations with the new administrator took place for several weeks, he said.

Rottjakob, who worked as assistant city administrator and director of planning and development for the city, was appointed the interim city administrator after Seemayer's resignation.