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Muscatine city administrator fighting to release closed session minutes

“It has been a long trying year, for not only myself but for my family and my supporters, it`s been difficult,” said Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson.

MUSCATINE, Iowa - It's been a long battle for Muscatine Mayor Diana Broderson.

"It has been a long trying year, for not only myself but for my family and my supporters, it`s been difficult," said Broderson.

It was a year ago that the city council took away her power to appoint positions.

That move would eventually lead to the council voting to impeach her in May.

Now, it's a waiting game as a judge could rule any day now in her lawsuit against the city to keep her job.

"We're just waiting, it's all in the judges hands, the judge could just make a final decision, he could allow some things to move forward on some of these motions," said Broderson.

The city has been fighting Broderson every step of the way, a judge just ruled that the minutes of closed sessions from last February to January of this year are relevant to her case against the city.

"Only five of them were available because the city has lost one of the tapes and another one of the tapes was not taped appropriately, so you can`t make out anything that`s being said," said Broderson.

Broderson says she was only in two of the closed session meetings and wants to hear what was said in the ones she was not allowed by the city council to attend.

"What is on those tapes that they don't want the public to hear certainly that they don't want my attorney or myself to hear?" asked Broderson.

City Administrator Gregg Mandsager is fighting releasing the tapes to the public.

Court documents state he has "a personal interest in the confidentiality of meetings conducted concerning his person performance as a public employee."

News eight reached out to both Mandsager and his attorney Eric Michael Updegraff with Hopkins & Huebner who did not return replies for comment.

A petition has been started demanding that the city administrator be fired.

Below is the full interview:

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