Richard Boeckman
When Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman resigned October 21 at the request of the Barton County Commission, speculation as to what happened started to circulate throughout the community.
While the exact reason why Boeckman was forced to resign after serving as Administrator for 12 years is unclear, Commission Chair Don Davis did say Boeckman had too much power serving as both the Administrator and County Counselor.
Don Davis Audio
Through study sessions and department head meetings this week, the commission determined that each commissioner will oversee various departments. If a department head has questions or issues that need to be addressed they will go directly to the commissioner. Barton County along with their attorney from Watkins Calcara negotiated a $27,500 buyout with Boeckman.
Davis reiterated that since the discussion occurred in executive session, the facts behind Boeckman’s departure will not be revealed.
Don Davis Audio
The commission plans to separate the administrator and counselor positions going forward. Davis added the commission is considering contracting out the counselor position through a local attorney in an on-call situation. Ideally, the commission preferred to have a replacement by January 1, but with the holiday season they realized that date may not be realistic.
Boeckman announced plans to retire in March of 2017 but after multiple executive session discussions, he was asked to submit his resignation on October 21.