The evening before Hennessey town trustees hired Tiffany Tillman as the town administrator, they appeared to have been threatened in a group email not to hire her.

There would be lawsuits filed “if she (Tillman) gets the job,” according to the email.

The email was sent from oklahomajournal@ yahoo.com. to all trustees, Town Clerk Kelley Vaverka and Steve Whitlock, Oklahoma Municipal Management Services executive director.

They also attempted to send the email to the Times & Free Press reporter, but had the wrong address.

Tillman’s Pay $85,000

Tillman, who applied for the job through OMMS, which was hired by the town to help conduct a search for her replacement, was hired Tuesday night effective immediately. She will have a five-year contract at $85,000 each year. There have been some comments about her “high” salary. Here is a current list of salaries for nearby administrative jobs: Crescent town mana ger, $77,886; Waukomis town manager, $73,014; Fairview city manager, $138,320; Kingfi sher city manager, $125,000 base pay (does not include car, etc. and that was the same pay for Dave Slezickey from 2019-22).

When Tillman resigned in February as administrator after 17 years, she was paid $63,000.

That’s the same amount she and the public works director were each paid in 2014.

Then in 2017, the public works director was fired and Tillman was assigned his duties too.

3-1 Vote to Hire

Voting yes to hire Tillman were Mayor Clif Vogt and Trustees Bert Gritz and Randy Bohnstedt.

Voting no was Trustee David Jones.

Vice Mayor Harold Shaw left the meeting after the board’s nearly three-hour executive session and before that vote.

Also attending the closed session were Whitlock and Town Attorney John Wynne.

Both Tillman and Interim Town Administrator Starla Fuksa were invited into the closed session at different times.

Public Works Director Search Continues

After the Tuesday night board meeting the mayor, and others on the board told the Times & Free Press reporter they will continue to search for a public works director.

At the Meeting

In addition to the five trustees, other elected officials present were Vaverka and Town Treasurer and Town Hall Office Manager Shelley Burch.

In addition to Wynne, other employees in the audience were Brandon Scott, fire chief; Fuksa, interim town administrator; David Treanor, parks/pool and cemetery department superintendent; Alyssa Kubat, water department superintendent, and water employees Kyle Watkins and Jamie Keel; Bryan Burch, sewer department superintendent; Denise Meloy, Town Hall accounts receivable clerk; Steven Mitchell, library director and Ruby Rodriguez, childrens’ librarian.

Also in the audience were Tillman and her family members: Sharon Pollard, mother; Abby Steward and Meagan Tillman, daughters; and three grandchildren.

Others in the audience were Whitlock; Jennifer Firgard, NODA; Scott Hajek, Hennessey historian/ farmer/ cattleman/ businessman; Daniela Valles; Matt Gettings; and Keri Keel.