A Kansas city manager has been suspended — and is expected to be fired — after staffers were sent an email showing him masturbating on a couch.
The disturbing video of the Shawnee City Council’s $190,000-a-year manager, Doug Gerber, was emailed to several employees from an anonymous account with the subject line: “MOST IMPORTANT.”
It appears to have been filmed by Gerber, who also seemed to be alone during the sex act, according to the Kansas City Star, which reviewed the tape after obtaining email records through a public information request.
Exactly who sent the clip — and how they got it — were not immediately clear.
“This is just a disturbed individual trying to cause issues with the city,” a city IT employee wrote to staff members in the Kansas City suburb.
The disturbing video of the Shawnee City Council’s $190,000-a-year manager, Doug Gerber, was emailed to several employees from an anonymous account with the subject line: “MOST IMPORTANT.” City of ShawneeHowever, the anonymous sender told the Kansas City Star in an email exchange that they wanted to expose Gerber’s online behavior — suggesting the masturbation clip was to entice someone, seemingly without proof.
Doug Gerber, the city manager of Shawnee, Kansas, was put on administrative leave over the scandal. City of Shawnee“We don’t hesitate to expose people involved in these dubious and un-Catholic practices,” the sender wrote.
Gerber had been investigated over rumors of previous “impropriety” before he was hired in March, council president Eric Jenkins confirmed to the Star, without elaborating.
The consultant leading the job search, however, assured them that “she thoroughly searched the background of Mr. Gerber and had found absolutely nothing that would give us cause not to select him,” Jenkins said.
Still, Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler said she was “not incredibly surprised” at the scandal because of unspecified concerns over Gerber’s behavior at his previous job in Topeka.
The Shawnee City Council hired Gerber earlier this year, despite rumors of his “impropriety.” KMBC“What I do know is that during the city manager hiring process, the governing body had been made aware of previous issues and accusations against Mr. Geber,” she said in a statement.
“The additional concerns I raised during those discussions were dismissed, and the council proceeded to choose Mr. Gerber, stating he was most closely aligned with their values.”
The local paper noted that Gerber could be a victim under a state law forbidding such sexual material from being shared without permission.
However, the city council held an emergency meeting late Wednesday and unanimously voted to put Gerber on administrative leave — in part for keeping the scandal secret for more than a month.
The Shawnee City Council held an emergency meeting, unanimously voting to put Gerber on administrative leave. KMBC“This email was received at City Hall, we’ve been told, Sept. 29th. I didn’t find out about this situation until Halloween night,” just over a month later, said Jenkins, the council president.
“If he failed to communicate on this, what else has he failed to communicate on?” Jenkins told KCTV.
“I mean, this was kind of the first big test he had, and he didn’t do very well. So I think our actions were appropriate, they were measured.”
An interim manager is being chosen, and Gerber is expected to be fired, said Jenkins, who told KCTV he doesn’t “see how this man can move forward being the leader of our staff and our go-to guy as the city manager.”
The city council is expected to meet on Nov. 6 to appoint an interim city manager. KMBCThree city council candidates have issued a joint statement calling for an investigation into Gerber’s actions and those of the city council in the month after the video was first shared.
Gerber refused to discuss the scandal, including why someone would send the video and why it was not revealed to council members earlier.
“I think it’s not in the city’s best interest right now to comment,” Gerber told the Kansas City Star.
