owling Green’s city manager has resigned after 28 years of service in city government.
Chuck Coates announced his resignation at a press conference Thursday afternoon in response to city commissioners’ requests that he leave because of financial mismanagement issues. His last day is April 30.
City Commissioner Brian Strow said Coates was asked to resign because of the multiple financial disasters that have occurred in recent years.
The discovery of former Chief Financial Officer Davis Cooper’s embezzlement scheme last month and attorney Steve Catron’s alleged over-billing of the city-owned Sloan Convention Center last year all happened while Coates was city manager, Strow said.
Cooper allegedly embezzled more than $581,000 from city accounts between Jan. 9, 2004 and Dec. 17, 2004.
Catron was accused of overcharging the city $750,000 for more than 14 years.
A change of leadership was necessary for the city to move out of the shadow of scandal, Strow said.
Coates’ managerial style has been questioned much over the last year, Mayor Elaine Walker said.
Many Bowling Green residents have talked to Walker about the recent scandals. Most were concerned with the way city government was being run, she said.
“The message they were sending was, ‘We do not want things done the way they were before,’” Walker said.
An interim city manager will take over for Coates after April 30, she said.
The Kentucky League of Cities has been asked to provide an interim city manager until the position can be filled, Walker said. A nation-wide search for a city manager will begin soon.
Finding a permanent city manager might take three to six months, she said.
The city commission wants to make sure they find the right candidate, Walker said.
City Commissioners Mark Alcott and Brian “Slim” Nash approached Coates about resigning on Thursday.
Coates’ resignation wasn’t a quick response to the Cooper scandal, Nash said.
He said the LifeSkills controversy and the convention center scandal were also viable reasons for Coates’ resignation.
LifeSkills, in particular, was a situation where Coates could have acted differently but chose not to, Nash said.
He said he believes Coates bypassed the Downtown Redevelopment Authority when he allowed a deal between the previous commission and LifeSkills for a downtown property to commence.
The decision to ask for Coates’ resignation wasn’t easy for the commission to make, especially with the legacy he left behind, Walker said.
Bowling Green wouldn’t have become a regional hub for commerce without Coates, Nash said.
“The city of Bowling Green has been better off with Mr. Coates than without,” he said.
But public officials are responsible for the circumstances, good and bad, that go on under their leadership, Walker said.
Reach Bobby Harrell at news@wkuherald.com.
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