Following the suspension of a city employee by the Winona Board of Aldermen and the subsequent resignation of that employee during the August 3 meeting of the board, Winona Mayor Aaron Dees used his veto power to nullify the board action today.
According to the formal veto, Dees stated that he was vetoing the board action to suspend City Clerk June Williams for two days without pay for insubordination.
On August 3, in a closed-door executive session, the board voted to suspend Williams for two days without pay for insubordination, upon a motion by Alderwoman Sylvia Clark and a second by Alderwoman Linda Purnell. Harris reportedly voted for the measure, while Aldermen Mickey Austin and Travis Johnson cast the dissenting votes.
Dees reasoned in his veto, “The incident in question occurred on June 28, 2021. Clerk Williams was not a subordinate of the newly-elected board at that time.”
Dees said after researching the incident, he discovered the newly-elected board members were not officially members of the Winona Board of Aldermen at the time of the incident. He explained that on June 28, shortly before the new administration took office, he and newly-elected members of the board met with Williams to discuss surety bonds they are required to sign before officially assuming the roles as mayor and aldermen.
On June 28, Williams was not a subordinate of the newly-elected members of the board. In fact, the former administration held a special-called meeting that same evening to appoint Calvin “Dooney” Young as interim chief of police.
Those elected to hold office in April’s Primary Election and June’s General Election did not officially assume their elected positions until July 1.
In addition, Dees said if he had known he could veto the action immediately after the measure passed, he would have. However, as a newly-elected official, he wanted to look further into the matter, and as the law allows a mayoral veto to be made within 10 days of a board action, he issued his formal veto today, exactly 10 days after the measure passed.
“According to the attorney general’s office, [the suspension] should have never happened,” Dees said. “I vetoed that and gave [Williams] her pay [for the two days]. There was no cause for this. She should never have been reprimanded. It was not the right thing to do.”
Williams served her two-day suspension on August 4 and August 5.
In addition, Dees said he vetoed the board’s acceptance of Williams’s resignation, which was issued immediately after the board voted for her suspension.
Dees said he vetoed the board’s action to accept her resignation “based on the initial veto, the resignation was no longer necessary.”
“[Williams] withdrew her resignation,” Dees said. “She is not resigning. She is staying.”
Dees said copies of his official veto were hand-delivered to every member of the Winona Board of Aldermen Thursday afternoon.
