“City Hall Closed Today” reads the notice hanging from Cosmopolis’ city hall front door on Monday morning, following a mass resignation from leadership positions in the embattled city, alongside an email and a nonfunctional phone number for the mayor.
Longtime City Administrator Darrin Raines, alongside Finance Director Julie Pope, Public Works director Jeff Nations, and Deputy Clerk Cheryl Chrt, submitted their resignations on Friday as the city is beset by budget woes.
“This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever been faced with. After 36-plus years with Cosmopolis, to see my career end this way, is not only frustrating, it’s terribly sad for me,” Raines said in a message. “I’ve enjoyed working for Cosmopolis, I grew up here, and it’s been a great opportunity in my life. I just cannot continue to work in such a hostile environment, and no one should.”
Raines said he had hoped to work at the city until retiring in several years, but that the prevailing conditions made that impossible. Other resignations echoed that sentiment.
“I am very thankful for the opportunities I have experienced in my more than nine years with the city,” wrote Pope in her letter of resignation. “Unfortunately, this resignation is due to the hostile work environment I have been experiencing since the first of this year. Although I am very sad to go, this is necessary for my physical and mental well-being.”
Cosmopolis is in a perilous position, with the city’s general fund set to plunge into the red at the end of the month as the recently elected mayor and city council look at options for staving off the worst. There have already been layoffs in the city’s police department, with more set to go through, said city officers in a contentious public meeting, and no clear plan for the future of the police department — or the city — yet established.
The next public meeting is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Mayor Linda Springer did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
