Bastrop City Manager Lynda Humble listens from the audience as the City Council on Tuesday night accepts her abrupt resignation, which she submitted Monday. [TERRY HAGERTY FOR BASTROP ADVERTISER] ▲ Bastrop City Manager Lynda Humble, left, leaves City Hall after the City Council on Tuesday night accepted her abrupt resignation. [ANDY SEVILLA/ BASTROP ADVERTISER] ▲

Bastrop City Manager Lynda Humble abruptly resigned Tuesday because of her frustration with the mayor and some council members' apparent propensity to micromanage her, according to a memo Humble wrote to the City Council.

"The blatant disregard for the charter; speaking directly to members of staff, again in direct violation of the charter; the unwillingness on the part of the mayor and several council members to communicate directly to the city manager; and the fact that the city manager has had this same conversation with council for three years has created a hostile work environment with irreparable trust issues that are detrimental to the city manager's ability to continue to be successful," Lynda Humble said in a 62-page memo delivered to the council Monday.

The memo was obtained by the Advertiser on Wednesday through an open records request.

Humble wrote that memo in response to a performance evaluation the council drafted in executive session on Jan. 14 — the fourth time the council had discussed Humble's work performance — and shared it with the city manager.

The four-page performance evaluation, also obtained by the Advertiser on Wednesday, includes a half-page of praise for the city manager's work, including addressing nine of the council's priority focus areas — managed growth, community safety, economic vitality, multi-modal mobility, uniquely Bastrop and unique environment — many of which were accomplished through the city's Building Bastrop initiative, which overhauled the city's development code.

The evaluation also included two and a half pages outlining three issues that required improvement: communication, fiscal responsibility and organization excellence.

The council demanded that the city's internal and external communications were proactive and kept at the highest professional standards. It also asked for increased oversight of finances and to keep council members abreast of all changes to the city's financial plans and operations, as well as verifying that the process for documenting and tracking expenditures adheres to policy requirements. Improving customer service was also top of mind for the council, as well as keeping council members apprised of any employee firings and staffing changes, and improving procedures within the planning and inspection departments.

"Council's expectation is that the city manager will report demonstrable advances in these areas," the council said in its performance evaluation of Humble. "In the spirit of teamwork and for clarity of expectations, we will be meeting quarterly to review ongoing progress. Furthermore, a subcommittee of the council will be appointed to meet with the city manager more frequently."

To help improve communication, the council gave Humble a March 1 deadline to hire a council liaison to improve the flow of information at City Hall. The council has asked Humble to fill the position since last year, but she said the hiring was put on pause until office space was created for a new hire.

The council also requested in its evaluation of Humble "some form of citizen care documentation" to be implemented by Jan. 28.

In her memo, Humble said she and her team were working to identify appropriate organizational values, including quality customer service. She said an employee recognition program would be established to reward successful employees and change the culture on providing quality customer care, but that she was unwilling to compromise the customer service journey currently underway with her team to meet an arbitrary Jan. 28 deadline set by council.

Humble said she remained "extremely frustrated" at the micromanagement by the City Council, which she said came across to her as tasks on a to-do list of lower priority items.

"This behavior illustrates a lack of knowledge and professional background to understand the scope and impact of the big issues which materially impact the city's fiscal sustainability, bond rating, and ability to meet the daily and future demands of the city's mission," Humble said in her memo.

She said the council must grow comfortable with not knowing all of the information and answers to every aspect of the city's organization, and instead trust that the paid, professional staff will handle the city's business.

Humble said that instead of focusing on to-do lists, the council should evaluate her on her ability to carry out the city's work plan, which for this fiscal year includes the construction of the Main Street rehabilitation project set to begin in mid-February, construction of a skate park at Fisherman's Park, infrastructure improvements such as drainage projects and determining a funding source to repair the Old Iron Bridge, completing the water tower on Texas 20, and creating a new budget process to address new legislation passed last year by legislators, among others.

Humble, in her memo, also accused Mayor Connie Schroeder, Mayor Pro Tem Lyle Nelson and at least one other council member, whom she did not name, of working against the city charter — the document that governs how the city will function and sets a council-manager form of government — by bypassing her and questioning and taking issues directly to staff members.

The city charter orders that the council shall deal with city officers and employees who are under the direction and supervision of the city manager solely through the city manager. The charter prohibits the council from giving orders to such officers or employees either publicly or privately.

"The mayor and several council members have grown emboldened enough to disregard the charter, which has compromised the ability of the city manager to perform the duties of which an oath was taken to protect and serve and have breached the city manager's trust causing irreparable damage," Humble said. "We have reached an impasse."

On Tuesday, the council was scheduled to take up Humble's performance evaluation a fifth time. After about an hour in executive session, the council voted in open session to accept Humble's resignation.

In her memo, Humble gave the council until Feb. 4 to accept her resignation and terms or she would rescind her resignation and continue as city manager but would suit the council in district court "to enforce the role and responsibilities of the city of Bastrop City Charter in order to protect the integrity of the citizens' constitution."

She said she would also issue a directive to all employees requiring all their interactions with the council to occur solely through the city manager.

"Our council appreciates Lynda's service to our community, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors," Schroeder said in a written statement to the Advertiser. "After much careful consideration and discussion, it became apparent that there was a fundamental difference between our City Council and the city manager regarding the council's policy-making role and the city manager's administrative role."

With Humble's resignation, which she executed after the council unanimously accepted her offer on Tuesday, she will receive a severance package.

Though the settlement agreement was not available to the Advertiser on Thursday, Humble may be entitled to nine-months' worth of her salary plus an additional month for every year she's worked in Bastrop, as per her contract.

The Advertiser has requested the settlement agreement through an open records request.

Humble was paid a base annual salary of $170,000.

On Tuesday, the City Council named Assistant City Manager Trey Job as the acting city manager until an interim manager is hired.

The council also directed Schroeder and Nelson to research possible candidates for the interim manager position and make a recommendation to the council.

Schroeder and Nelson will also research and recommend an executive search firm to lead the hunt for a city manager.