Wagoner council moves to executive session after candidate absence for development services director

The Wagoner City Council on Jan. 5 voted to enter an executive session to discuss the possible employment of Whitley Crow as development services director after members noted that Crow was not present to respond to questions.

When the council questioned whether to act in Crow's absence, one council member said on the record that the council should "take no action" and added, "if you want a job, you should be here," remarks directed at the absent applicant. Another member challenged that assertion by asking, "How do you know if she doesn't have the credentials if she didn't?" demonstrating that the question of Crow's qualifications was raised but not resolved in open session.

A motion and second were made to adjourn to executive session under Title 25 OK Statutes section 307(b)(1) (statutory authority cited in the meeting notice). Roll call votes were recorded in favor of the motion. The transcript indicates the council voted to enter executive session; the record does not show any public decision or hiring action taken during open session.

Because the applicant was absent, council members debated procedural fairness and whether an absent candidate should be considered without the opportunity to respond. The council moved the matter to closed session as permitted by the cited statute. The public portion of the meeting then continued with no public hiring decision recorded.