Wasson had been on the job for less than a year. He was hired in October.
Mayor Monty Lenington made the motion for Wasson's dismissal "for the good of the town, the good of the service." On Friday morning, Lenington said, "I didn't feel he (Wasson) was doing the job at the level he needed to."
Lenington, B.J. Bramlett, and Bill Ed Brooks voted for Wasson's firing, while J.R. Crowson and Greg Wilson voted against it.
"Best of luck to you," Wasson told Brooks, before shaking hands with council members. Wasson's dismissal was immediate.
After the meeting, Wasson pointed to strife from the beginning of his employment. He said his first day on the job he was chastised by an employee for "ruining the town." That type of behavior continued since then, he indicated.
Wasson said one employee, whom he would not name, told him, "I will have your job within a year."
Wasson said the board expressed concern about his current legal matter, which "may be a black eye on the town." He is referring to a civil suit in which he is involved. A jury last week found that Wasson and his wife must pay $3.1 million to the estate of Douglas Stites in a civil lawsuit against the Wassons. The lawsuit revolved around a short-term, high-interest loan business in which Stites and the Wassons were partners.
"This was created over 10 years ago. It had nothing to do with the town," he said, adding there have been no criminal charges.
Wasson pointed out that the council discussed the lawsuit during his interview for the job. He said he offered to meet with the council and his attorney, as well as the town attorney.
"They elected not to," he said.
"What have I done since I've been here that is so terrible?" he asked, pointing out that he has never fired anyone or asked the board to take action against anyone.
Wasson listed what he has done for the town since he has been administrator, including getting a loan from the water resources board approved for a new wastewater treatment plant, getting the town to implement cost of living raises, securing a $250,000 community development block grant for the wastewater plant, getting a $50,000 grant for strategic planning, and securing a $25,000 Department of Commerce grant for a capitol investment plan.
Wasson named a variety of accusations against him, and disputed all of them. Some of those accusations, he said, were stirring up employees, turning away a grant to pay for the wastewater treatment plant, not being proactive promoting the sales tax vote, and not being interested in the town to try to create harmony.
Wasson said when he first started the job the board asked him to get a definition of employee jobs and write job descriptions. He said it offended everyone when they were asked what their jobs were.
"Whenever there's change, people feel threatened," he said.
Wasson said it was hard to create harmony when "people won't talk to you." He said some employees thought he was after them, which was not the case.
As far as turning away a grant, Wasson said he and Lenington met with representatives of U.S. legistators about possible help financing the wastewater treatment plant. He said the representatives asked him to tell them about Roland, and Wasson told them about how they are trying to help themselves, telling them about the loan, the grant, rate increases, and sales tax increase.
After the meeting, Wasson said Lenington told him that he "didn't beg well enough."
"Nothing was offered," Wasson emphasized.
He said Lenington came to him at one point and told him he was stirring up employees and basically took his authority away. "I went along with it and tried to work with them," Wasson said.
Wasson defended his promotion of the sales tax, pointing to its passage. Wasson said he went to every meeting and told people about the tax and why it was needed. He said he passed out 400 business cards.
"Guess what? The sales tax passed by 81 percent," he said.
Wasson pointed out that more people voted in the sales tax election than in the previous five elections in the town.
"Obviously the people in the community got the information about the sales tax, realized the importance and got it passed," he said.
Despite his dismissal, Wasson said he has no ill feelings toward any board member.
"This board is not a bad board," he said. "You have people who honestly care about the community."
Wasson said there is a problem - that it looks like three board members have formed a pact with each other to always vote together.
"People in the town are not expressing enough concern about the community," he said.
Wasson speculated that the mayor's position will become a highly-paid full-time position or the mayor might look at resigning and being hired as a full-time administrator.
Lenington on Friday morning dismissed either speculation as a possibility.
"We are not having a paid mayor position," Lenington said. He said the $155 a month he receives as mayor is not enough to be full-time.
He also said he is sure that he can not resign and then be hired by the board. He said he believes there is a law that says a councilman must be off the council for a certain period, possibly two years, before they can be hired as an employee.
Wasson said he will remain active in the community and a strategic planning group. He said that he planned to file for unemployment Friday morning and then take a couple of days off and relax.
"I'm going to determine what to do then," he said. When asked if he would fight his termination, Wasson was vague.
"Am I going to sue? I don't know. I have a period of time to make up my mind," he said.
Lenington said he believes the town will begin taking applications for administrator. He said the issue will be placed on the September agenda for discussion.
