JEFFERSONVILLE — Despite the fact that Clerk-Treasurer Peggy Wilder routinely has not showed up for work — and continues to collect a $65,000-per-year city salary — the Jeffersonville City Council passed a resolution Monday night saying that there had not been a general failure to perform the official duties of her office.

Further, the resolution serves as a indication that the council will not pursue impeachment for the controversial clerk. It comes as a response to numerous calls from residents for the council and Mayor Tom Galligan to address her repeated absences. Wilder also has had legal trouble in recent years, charged in Indiana with conversion, a class A misdemeanor for allegedly using city credit cards for personal purchases. She ended up paying for the charges, not the city.

She was also sentenced to community service for a misdemeanor theft charge in Kentucky, wherein she traded in a vehicle for which she couldn’t produce a title.

The resolution was presented by council attorney Greg Clark, who compiled it at the request of Councilman Ron Grooms. Clark said it was no secret that the council had been asked to address the situation. Wilder’s is an elected position and under Indiana statute, the council or mayor do not have the authority to simply fire her, he said.

Clark first spelled out Wilder’s statutory obligations, such as preserving records, recording votes, keeping track of local ordinances and serving as the city’s fiscal officer. He noted that the council had no authority to hire or fire anyone in the office and that her employees serve at her pleasure, not theirs. He also pointed out the council cannot reduce her salary below the previous year’s level, in accordance with state code.

Clark, however, did note that there were ways to remove local officials from office. Impeachment proceedings are conducted with the Indiana House of Representative prosecuting, with the trial conducted before the state Senate. There also is a procedure for an accusation against a local official to be submitted to a grand jury for consideration by the circuit court and would require a jury trial.

Finally, there is a procedure for an individual — or a council — to submit a verified written accusation to the circuit court of the county, alleging that an official has been guilty of charging and collecting illegal fees for services rendered and neglecting to perform official duties. Clark said the latter had been suggested to the council. However, he noted that the Indiana Supreme Court has said “there must be a general failure to perform official duties.”

The court was specific, said Clark, even giving an example “... for instance, where a sheriff closes his office and remains away and refuses and neglects to discharge the duties thereof, and has no one to perform his official duties.”

The resolution states that all official duties have been performed. It was approved by a unanimous vote.

“I think that’s a very aggressive resolution that shows we are doing due diligence, that shows we’re responding,” Grooms said after the meeting. “I hope the citizens look at this and see the council has critically looked at the situation.”

Those wishing to pursue action regarding her absence have the right to do so, Grooms pointed out.

“I understand everybody’s frustration,” Galligan added.

However, he said, moving forward on impeachment would “serve no purpose” and government is moving on with day-to-day operations.

City leaders are moving forward on a plan to change the city from third class to second-class designation under the state’s classification system. Doing so would take the financial responsibilities in the hands of the clerk-treasurer and give them to an appointed controller. That change would take place after the November 2011 municipal election.



In other business

• Clark announced he would resign, noting he’d accepted a city attorney position in Indianapolis. He was visibly emotional, saying the job was a “something I needed to do for the betterment of my family.”

Council members said he would be missed.

“Their gain is our loss,” Councilman Mike Smith said.

Galligan said he’d been a diligent attorney.

“He has done a great job for us,” he said. “He will be a very good attorney for a long time.”

• The council approved the first reading of a salary ordinance that increases salaries for several employees, adding an additional $76,000 in annual spending. The ordinance came after a study — which looked at salaries of similar jobs in similar cities — created minimum and maximum pay ranges for each city employee. About 20 employees were below the minimum pay range.

Raises for two workers in Wilder’s office — Suzy Bass and Barbara Hollis — were not part of the ordinance, as they had previously been when the council defeated the motion last month.