News/Commentary

City manager suspended after personal lewd video is mysteriously sent to employees: ‘MOST IMPORTANT’

November 3, 2023 | | Print Article

A city manager from Kansas has gained unwanted attention as a video of him masturbating on a couch was sent anonymously to city workers with the subject line: “MOST IMPORTANT.”

(Video Credit: KMBC 9)

Shawnee City Manager Doug Gerber has been put on administrative leave after authorities got wind of the video a month after it was sent out. None of the city staff who received the video on September 29 told council members about it. Gerber did not send out the video and his city computer system was not used to distribute the lewd video.

The Daily Mail is reporting that the video was sent out by a third-party sender from a private Gmail address. It is unknown how they got a hold of it, who took the video, or when it was taken.

“One of the council’s IT employees advised staff the sender had been blocked and that this was ‘just a disturbed individual trying to cause issues with the city,'” the news outlet reported.

Gerber is understandably refusing to comment on the incident, stating, “I think it’s not in the city’s best interest right now to comment.”

The video was also sent via email to The Kansas City Star with the message, “We don’t hesitate to expose people involved in these dubious and un-Catholic practices.”

Two City Council members, Eric Jenkins and Angela Stiens, claimed they never received the email.

Jenkins asserted that he had not heard anything about the video until a reporter approached him for comment on it.

“That was the first I heard of it. That wasn’t good. Nobody felt like they should step up and tell the governing body,” Jenkins commented according to the Daily Mail.

“I find it incredulous that nobody told the City Council. We’ve got an HR director, two assistant city managers, department heads, the city manager. I mean nobody would bother to tell the elected representatives this is percolating down here at City Hall?” he added.

“Ethically, it was certainly the responsibility of the city manager to advise us that this email did exist at City Hall and with the staff. He really needed to tell us,” Jenkins continued.

Stiens said she never saw the video.

“I’ve never seen it. I don’t know anything about it. From my understanding, [most city employees] didn’t even know about it, as well. They found out about it the same way we did — through the Kansas City Star,” she contended.

The video came to light after The Kansas City Star filed a Kansas Open Records Act request for all the emails related to the incident. At that point, council members and the mayor reportedly found out about the video.

Once its existence was discovered, council members called an emergency meeting over it. They decided to put Gerber on administrative leave. They have begun the process of selecting an interim city manager to take his place.

Three city council candidates issued a joint statement calling for an investigation into the matter. They want answers concerning Gerber’s actions.

Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler told The Kansas City Star she had heard concerns about Gerber’s Topeka tenure prior to his hire in Shawnee as city manager.

“I do not have all the details of this incident,” Distler told The Star in an interview. “However, I was not incredibly surprised when I was notified about the KORA request from The KC Star. What I do know is during the city manager hiring process, the governing body had been made aware of previous issues and accusations against Mr. Gerber.”

“The additional concerns I raised during those discussions were dismissed, and the council proceeded to choose Mr. Gerber, stating he most closely aligned with their values,” the mayor stated.

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