City Manager Aaron Desentzhas been suspended after a resolution was added to the agenda by Commissioner Ryon Skalitzky at the Mount Pleasant City Commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 9.
Paul Lauria, police chief of Mount Pleasant, is now the acting city manager under the supervision of the commission.
Due to legal issues, the commissioners could not give specific reasoning for the suspension, Skalitzky said.
The resolution once passed, immediately suspended Desentz. The suspension will last no longer than 45 days according to Article III Section 4of the City Charter. The charter requires commissioners to first have a preliminary resolution that states reasons forremoval.
Listed in the resolution as reasons were:
- Desentz employment is at will and the Commission is the sole judge whether services are satisfactory
- Missing deadlines have interfered with city operations by creating risk for accruing funds.
- Consistent turnover and understaffed departments have left the organization vulnerable to failure and oversight.
Within five days of the city manager being given a copy of the resolution, the city manager may file with the commission a request for a public hearing as stated in the city charter. Desentz was given a copy of the resolution at the meeting.
According to the article, the public hearing can not be held earlier than 15 days than when the manager requests the hearing and can not be after 30 days from when the request for the hearing is made.
The city manager can provide a written statement for the public hearing, but it must be turned into the commission no sooner than five days before the public hearing.
If no public hearing is requested and the five day period has passed, then commissioners can move forward with the final resolution with the decision to terminate the city manager.
Lauria said he was surprised by the actions taken by the commission on Monday to suspend Desentz. He said his responsibilities now are making sure operations keep running smoothly and the divisions have the support and direction they need.
The resolution passed with commissioners Mary Alsager and Amy Perschbacher voting in opposition.
“We were blindsided by this,” Perschbacher said.
Perschbacher said she has frustrations with members of the commission who voted yes, specifically withSkalitzky .
WhenDesentz was hired in 2021,Perschbacher was on the commission.
“Wehired him because he’s well educated and he knows what he is doing,”she said defending Desentz.
When the resolution passed,Desentz immediately left the meeting and did not return.
Skalitzky said he found the evaluation process commissioners are required to perform on the city manager annually extremely lacking and that led to furtherinvestigation. He said this involved city staff and previous stakeholders within the community.
“It led to a lot of really discerning revelations that required us to take immediate action,”Skalitzky said. “Hopefully this can be a cloud lifted over the city of Mount Pleasant and we can start to heal and we can move forward.”
Skalitzky said there has been a lack of information given to the commission, which has led to things being overlooked.
- The 2027 annual budget was proposed by Finance Director Lauren Pavlowski. The budget has now been revised three times and is now ready to be approved. Commissioners must approve the budget by the last meeting of 2026.
- A public hearing will take place on Dec. 14 for the proposed amendments to policies concerning contracts for building houses in Mount Pleasant. Commissioners worried there was too much being proposed for change. Director of Community Services Philip Biscorner and Director of Planning & Community Development Manuela Powidayko said for the chances to be made in order for more contractors to be able to build in Mount Pleasant.
