Belle Plaine council repeals city administrator office, approves termination

The Belle Plaine City Council voted on Jan. 7 to repeal the municipal code provision creating the Office of the City Administrator and to ratify the termination of City Administrator Rachelle Moore.

Councilmember Dennis McGinnis moved to approve Ordinance No. 1711, which would remove the city administrator position from the city code; the ordinance passed 3–2 with McGinnis, Bryan Nolan and Craig Joy voting yea and Dave Armstrong and Allen Hisken voting nay. Later the council approved Resolution 2026-1, which the council recorded as terminating the employment of Rachelle Moore; that resolution passed 4–1 (yeas: Hisken, McGinnis, Nolan, Joy; nay: Armstrong).

The votes came after a public comment period in which multiple residents urged the council to retain the administrator position and to reinstate Moore. The meeting record shows no council motion to reinstate the position or reverse the termination during the session. The action to repeal the ordinance and the resolution are the formal municipal steps recorded in the meeting minutes.

Next steps listed in the meeting record: the ordinance and resolution were approved on Jan. 7 and will be reflected in the council minutes and city records; the minutes note that the resolution ratified prior action taken by the mayor and governing body. No implementation timeline or replacement staffing plan was included in the minutes.