Evansville advisory member Mitchell Brothers resigns after city council vote sparks dispute over removal process

Mitchell Brothers, a city council appointee and member of the Evansville Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee, announced his resignation at the committee’s Sept. 23 meeting, saying he learned only 30 minutes before a recent City Council meeting that councilmembers planned to vote to remove him.

Brothers said he resigned to avoid “a public form of humiliation” after learning his name would be mentioned at the City Council meeting. “After serving seven years on this board, that is a complete slap in the face,” Brothers said during public comment. He told the committee he would provide a written resignation.

The resignation touched off extended discussion among members and staff about communication and the process for appointing or removing advisory committee members. Matt Heck, chair of the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Committee, and department staff said the committee had not voted to remove Brothers and that the department had not been informed that the mayor’s or the council’s office would take unilateral action.

Colby Jackson, director of the department that oversees the committee, said staff were alerted by the appointing authority (the city clerk’s/Mayor’s office) about attendance concerns for some appointees. Jackson said the department was not told the next step would be removal at the City Council meeting. “Our department wasn’t made aware of that,” Jackson said at the Sept. 23 session.

Committee members said they were stunned that a removal action reached City Council without advance notice to the advisory committee. The group voted to rescind approval of the Aug. 12 minutes (which had recorded that Brothers would finish his term) and instructed staff to amend the record to reflect Brothers’s statement that he did not agree to finish the remainder of his term.

Committee members said they will ask the mayor’s office and the city clerk to clarify the formal process for appointment and removal of advisory members so that future actions go through the committee before being presented to appointing authorities. Members discussed asking the city legal counsel to confirm the proper procedure and to make removal steps consistent and transparent.

The committee’s discussion included repeated expressions of regret that communication had broken down. Members said they want to avoid a repeat and plan follow-up with the mayor’s and city council’s offices to document a standard process for resignations and removals going forward.

The committee did not take any formal action to reinstate Brothers; instead, members focused on amending minutes and requesting clearer, documented procedures from the appointing authorities.

Looking ahead, staff said they will (1) amend the Aug. 12 minutes to reflect Brothers’s statement at the Sept. 23 meeting, (2) notify the mayor’s office and city clerk that the committee wants resignations and proposed removals routed through the advisory body first, and (3) request written confirmation of any future removal or resignation before it is presented at City Council.