The Signal Mountain Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to hire Elaine Brunelle as its interim town manager for the next year after recent hire Josh Ray decided he didn’t want the job.
A special meeting was called for Wednesday to discuss the town manager position and authorize the termination of the employment agreement between the town and Josh Ray that was entered into last month.
“Less than one week after we signed the contract, I discovered that Josh was actively pursuing employment with another city,” Mayor Charles Poss said at the meeting Wednesday. “I told Josh that the town council wanted a town manager who was committed to our town and wanted to be there.”
Poss said Ray informed him that he does not want to commit to working for Signal Mountain and agreed to terminate the employment contract.
Ray most recently served as city manager of Shelbyville, Tennessee, from January 2021 until March 2022, when the Shelbyville City Council fired him in a closed meeting without giving the reason for his dismissal, the Shelbyville Times-Gazette reported.