Council may take up suspension of CAO by mayor
Published 6:00 am Sunday, January 17, 2021
- St. Martinville CAO Avis Gutekunst, speaking at a city council meeting in 2020, was suspended by Mayor Melinda Mitchell after four checks for the city did not clear the bank. The council may discuss the suspension in executive session at its meeting Monday.
ST. MARTINVILLE — The St. Martinville City Council may be going into executive session again Tuesday during its regular meeting to discuss Mayor Melinda Mitchell’s suspension of the city’s chief administrative officer last week.
Avis Gutekunst was put on three-day suspension after four checks did not clear the bank. Mitchell has the power to issue suspensions as part of day-to-day operations, but has to bring any issues before the council at its first meeting after a suspension for approval.
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She had previously suspended Public Works Superintendent Brian Touchet, but after a hearing before the council Touchet was reinstated and the suspension stricken from his record.
Mitchell has been critical of Gutekunst in the past. The CAO was hired after Mitchell’s choice to fill the position, Shedrick Berard, turned in his letter of resignation in April 2019, moments before he was scheduled to go before the council over issues with his job performance. It took a third-party accounting firm six months to help the city rebuild its account records and create its 2020 budget after Berard left.
Gutekunst was hired in May, 2019 and began work in June of 2019.
The council is also scheduled to hear a presentation from New Iberia architect Paul Allain on his plan for the city’s Festival Grounds. The project will include a rehabilitation of the existing building on the property as well as amenities to tie the stage and proposed kayak dock into a cohesive recreational space.
The St. Martinville City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the city council meeting room of City Hall, 120 New Market St. in St. Martinville.
