Said to have offered his resignation, City Council to meet tonight
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
Kirby Hudson
COATESVILLE — In addition to having to find as much as $2 million in budget cuts by next week, it appears that City Council will also have to find a new City Manager, after sources said that Kirby Hudson resigned late last week.
The council apparently called a special meeting for Monday night — at 6 p.m. — to reportedly accept Hudson’s resignation and appoint an interim manager. With next Monday’s meeting to finalize the city budget for 2015, what had been expected to be a complicated and potentially contentious process may become even more so.
Neither the resignation nor the plans for a meeting tonight have been officially confirmed, and there is no mention of tonight’s meeting on the city’s Website, but multiple government sources confirmed the resignation.
Although Hudson could not be reached for comment, a couple of issues may have contributed to his decision to leave: he was facing increasing pressure about his residency in Delaware — with the full knowledge and permission of City Council — including a petition offered by more than 300 city residents at a council meeting earlier this month.
Hudson also appeared to have disagreed with the council’s decision earlier this month to cut spending — and has long argued that cuts would not solve the city’s financial issues. Council sources suggested that Hudson might have been feeling increased heat for failing to provide a long-term spending plan for the city and how to avoid continuing to tap the city’s dwindling trust fund.
The route forward for the city appears unclear now — although under state law, it must pass a municipal budget by the end of the year.
Hudson, who had served as Assistant City Manager, became City Manager after his predecessor, Gary Rawlings, was fired by City Council in June of 2012.
