Pippel quits Palmer council

August 13, 2006

By JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman

PALMER - In a shock to fellow colleagues, Palmer City Council Member Tony Pippel abruptly resigned from his council seat Wednesday

morning.

Pippel made his decision Tuesday night, after a closed executive session in which the council evaluated Palmer City Manager Tom Healy.

Pippel said his decision was due to &#8220personal sorts of reasons having to do with honesty and integrity.”

When asked if the decision had anything to do with Healy, Pippel said, &#8220No comment.”

Fellow council member Ken Erby, however, said tempers rose during the executive session to a point where Pippel walked out of the meeting early.

&#8220It's kind of hard to describe,” Erby said Friday.

&#8220Some tempers got raised, but I didn't think it was that

serious.”

Erby said there was discussion about the fact that some of Pippel's projects were not getting completed.

&#8220There were some things that he was upset about, so tempers got raised,” Erby explained. &#8220Tony got up and left about 10 minutes before we did. I didn't think he would resign.”

Pippel served as interim mayor during Mayor John Combs' recent seven-week absence due to illness.

Pippel did not elaborate on his resignation, but did indicate that under changed conditions, he would consider a return to the council in the future.

Voters elected Pippel to office in October 2002 and again in 2005.

His current term was scheduled to run through 2008.

Pippel's colleagues describe him as one of the more vocal and active members of the council.

&#8220He has always been a valuable member,” Combs said. &#8220He went above and beyond his duty with different projects and undertakings.”

Council Member Jim Wood said he was surprised by the resignation.

&#8220I couldn't tell you why he resigned, but his departure will leave a gap,” he said. &#8220Tony has been a very valuable player. He takes with him a lot of institutional knowledge and skill.”

Palmer City Clerk Jannette Bowers said Pippel's resignation won't be finalized until the next city council meeting, Aug. 22, when his colleagues are scheduled to either reject or accept his resignation

letter.

Erby said he hopes to talk Pippel out of the decision.

&#8220I've known Tony for a long time,” Erby said. &#8220He's the one who talked me into running for office. I'm in shock that he resigned.”

When asked if there was any way to review Tuesday night's executive session, Bowers said it was closed to the public and unrecorded.

&#8220Anything that happened was by word of mouth,” she said. &#8220There are no documents or recordings to get.”

On Friday, Bowers said, she would begin preparing a resolution for the Palmer City Council to accept Pippel's

resignation.

Contact Joel Davidson at 352-2266 or joel.davidson@ frontiersman.com.