About two dozen residents attended a Tool City Council meeting Oct. 6 to ask Mayor Donny Daniel to reconsider his recent decision to resign.
Daniel submitted a letter of resignation Oct. 2 after an emergency meeting of the council the previous evening. The council met to reinstate the city judge to full-time status rather than part-time, and the council members authorized the hiring of a new police officer and the reassignment of another police officer to the position of animal control/code enforcement officer. The council moved $42,977 from the road materials budget to fund the additional salary expense for the municipal judge.
Daniel's letter made his resignation effective eight days after submitting the letter. He gave no explanatio in the letter for his decision to resign.
At the meeting Oct. 6, all of the council members expressed surprise and dismay that Daniel planned to resign. A half-dozen residents addressed the council, asking the mayor to reconsider his decision.
Several residents said they considered the council to be moving in the right direction under Daniel's leadership.
Daniel said the events of the Oct. 1 meeting led in part to his decision to resign, but he gave no other details.
"Hopefully, we can get things turned around," Daniel said. "It's not my intention to destroy the city."
The council met in executive session with the mayor for 20 minutes following the public comments. The council took no action and adjourned the meeting.
Daniel said after the meeting he wanted to think about his decision to resign. The public support pleased him, the mayor said.
"I'm overwhelmed they all down and supported me," Daniel said.
Daniel said he would announce his decision soon.