Guillermo Morales, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors executive director, was fired from his role by the board after a year in the position for alleged hostile conduct with other county employees in a 3-2 vote from the board of supervisors.
Morales did not explicitly request to have the meeting in closed session and said he did not know why the board was discussing his employment. Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz also said they were unaware what the subject matter of the meeting would contain.
Morales did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Iowan on Wednesday.
Chairman Rod Sullivan then went on to read a statement expressing his reasoning in support of Morales’ termination as board office executive director.
Sullivan said Morales’ “regular critiques of other departments” and his “insubordinate and argumentative” behavior led to his termination. Sullivan cited complaints from colleagues in other departments along with a specific meeting on Feb. 15 where Morales “stormed out.”
Support for Morales’ termination was not unanimous among the board. Fixmer-Oraiz called the motion to terminate Morales as “inappropriate,” arguing that the usual HR corrective coaching was not implemented. They cited Morales’ discipline and alleged lack of understanding towards his job as the board’s responsibility.
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Fixmer-Oraiz proposed a motion against Morales’ termination, instead opting that the board work with Morales and implement a professional improvement plan.
Supervisor Jon Green seconded this motion and said Sullivan’s proposal of termination was more suited towards one rash error that required immediate action rather than the cumulative instances Sullivan listed.
Before voting on the motion, Fixmer-Oraiz considered the broader impacts of the termination.
“If we . . . decide down the path of termination, do you know what message that sends to our entire county staff? That the protocol goes out the window when you’re a department head,” Fixmer-Oraiz said.
“You might be surprised how department heads might feel about this,” Sullivan said in response.
Fixmer-Oraiz’s proposed motion failed, receiving only two affirmative votes from themself and Green and a negative from Sullivan, Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass, and Supervisor Royceann Porter.
Before Sullivan’s motion to terminate Morales was voted on, Porter questioned if they could alter the motion to give Morales room to resign. After pondering the alteration for a moment, Sullivan agreed the board would be open for a resignation and asked Morales if he would like to resign.
“I think a resignation would negatively impact my claim for wrongful termination” Morales said.
The board voted in favor of the executive director’s termination, with Fixmer-Oraiz and Green voting against the termination.