MUSCATINE, Iowa - Muscatine council members decided to close the doors to the public and agree to give Muscatine's City Administrator Gregg Mandsager a two-percent raise.
That didn't sit well with some citizens who heard about it when the council re-opened it's doors.
"In light of everything that's been going on in the last year, I think it would be prudent for the council, in my opinion to table it, open it up for discussion come Thursday or a later date to allow the public in Muscatine to see what's going on," said Roger Strong, Muscatine resident.
"We have a discussion that the public can be apart of on Thursday at the regular scheduled meeting," said Eva McBride, Muscatine resident.
However, the council, which has been criticized for voting unanimously to oust Mayor Diana Broderson from office this summer, voted unanimously to give it's city administrator a raise tonight.
The vote to give Gregg Mandsager a raise comes just days after he filed a lawsuit against the city and the mayor claiming the mayor has ruined his reputation by spreading lies about him.
Mandsager wouldn't talk with News 8 on camera but sent us a statement, "To date, my attorney has not had a response to our October 19th, 2017, letter. As such, we were left with little recourse, but to file the lawsuit. I remain hopeful that we can reach a mutually agreeable and respectful resolution to the matter and then redirect our energies to the many positive things going on in Muscatine."
"I'm disappointed that it got to this point because that was the whole point was trying to work together," said Santos Saucedo, At-Large Councilman.
Mayor Diana Broderson, who won re-election earlier this month says she thinks the council isn't listening to the citizens.
"It's frustrating just because I think the people are frustrated," said Broderson.
However, council members applaud Mandsager's work to hold down taxes, stay within the budget and smoothly operate the city, they say that's why he deserves a merit pay hike raising his salary to $157,000.
