MARLIN, Texas — “I feel like he was our last hope because Mr. Whitfield actually came to do a job to better Marlin,” Marlin city councilmember Monica Washington said.
After learning about his resignation from City council member Monica Washington, I sat down with Marlin city manager Keith Whitfield.
I asked him why he decided to step down after less than six months on the job.
He shared with me that he feels he was unable to perform his job and is uncertain of future agreements he made with the council.
He added that he feels Marlin Mayor Susan Byrd failed to work with him on several issues and did not follow through on previous agreements.
However, the mayor sees the situation in a different way.
“Well, I'm sad to see Mr. Whitfield go. I don't think he gave us much of an opportunity to work with him. I personally thought I was getting along very well with him and that we saw eye-to-eye on many, many issues, not all issues, but many issues,” Mayor Byrd said.
Mayor Byrd told me she welcomes new leadership in the City of Marlin.
“I'm looking forward to a new council that will be seated in May. I see a lot of potential for things happening quickly and moving forward like we want them to move forward,” Mayor Byrd said.
I spoke with current city council members to get their thoughts on the resignation.
“I do believe Mr. Whitfield stood up for what he believed in and what was right and what he was trying to do for the city and the mayor is getting in the way of that,” councilmember Washington said.
“For him to resign at this point it just shows me that we have done him a disservice. There are some of us who could have done things better I believe and how we address things and let him do his job. We hired him to do the job, so we should have stepped out of the way and allowed him to do the job,” city councilmember John Armstrong said.
