Former Blytheville water plant manager Matt Mosley resigned; he wasn't fired as reported recently.
The Blytheville Courier News obtained a copy of Mosley's letter of resignation, dated Monday and effective immediately.
On Tuesday, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders indicated Mosley was terminated, and that the decision was his own.
"This is business," the mayor said. "It's efficiency and business. Nobody's angry, well, out of this office. I'm to look at how I believe would best serve the city and move in that direction and that's the direction that I've taken."
Matt's wife, Whitney Mosley, voiced her displeasure with Wednesday's story in an email.
"I am appalled by your article in the Blytheville Courier News about Matt being fired!" she wrote. "It is to my understanding you are supposed to report the facts. The fact is he resigned! I have sat back and watch you drag his name through the mud, and this will be last time."
In his notice to Sanders, Matt Mosley indicated he left on good terms.
"I would like to express my appreciation for both the professional and personal growth opportunities that have been provided to me during my 13 years employment with the City of Blytheville," he wrote. "I would like to thank you (Sanders) in particular for all your advice and support. I wish you, Blytheville Waterworks and the city of Blytheville continued success in the future."
On Friday, Sanders said he was surprised at the way the split was presented in the newspaper.
"This was a business decision and what we did was we examined each one of those different things in those areas," Sanders said this morning. "When I saw the headline, I'm like why in the world are y'all putting that in there like that? But he was allowed that option. Like I said before, this was a business decision. He was allowed that option."
And if he didn't take that option, would he have been fired?
"Like I said, it was a business move," Sanders responded. "We felt like we needed to make that change."
On Tuesday, the mayor said as with any organization, the city makes changes.
Sanders noted he began evaluating specific situations when entering office last year.
"When people talk about evaluating, it's not just about money," he said. "It's about evaluating your personnel and seeing what's best. We've been able to get new equipment out there. We've been able to increase our revenues. All these are, are changes, and we've made some other changes in personnel within that company. This is just another one of those changes that I thought was necessary in order to move the company forward."
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com