KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – The city council voted 4-1 to not accept City Manager Lynn Rutkowski’s resignation during a special meeting on March 29, and it agreed to hold a workshop ahead of its May 2 meeting to create a code of conduct.

The meeting was called so the council could concentrate on city business on Tuesday night without addressing the ongoing contention between Mayor Karen Lake and the city manager.

Rutkowski offered her resignation during the February meeting after she said Lake sent demeaning text messages – sometimes late at night – and made disparaging remarks about her after the mayor learned Rutkowski didn’t graduate from high school. She has since earned her degree.

Proponents of Rutkowski said her nearly 20 years of experience for the city was more important; Lake said her incorrect credentials are a stain on the city’s reputation.

Lake didn’t get any support from her fellow councilmembers in accepting Rutkowski’s resignation. Both sides, however, said the dispute has created a firestorm of critical comments, primarily on social media, from the public, prompting councilman Bobby Brown to ask, “Why can’t everybody just get along?”

Rutkowski also had support from incoming councilwoman Christine Thompson and former city manager Scott Kornegay, who both said Lake should be removed from office.

“You all know me. You know my reputation. You know what I stand for,” Kornegay said. “Right is right and wrong is wrong. You need to do what’s right and do whatever it takes to keep her (Rutkowski) on board as the city manager. Then, you need to start the impeachment process for Karen Lake.”

Kornegay retired as the city manager in 2020.

“As the newest incoming member of the city council, I ran, primarily, because I love this town,” Thompson said. “I would like to see Lynn stay on as city manager. When I met Lynn, I was extremely impressed with her knowledge. That’s one of the biggest reasons I ran for the city council. I would like for her to retain her position and I would like you, Mayor Lake, to resign.”

Thompson will replace councilwoman Marion Kelly, who decided not to seek re-election.

Lake had her share of support, too, including former city council candidate Robin Beaton.

“I’m really concerned with what I’m seeing on the council,” she said. “I’m definitely a supporter of Karen Lake. I think she does amazing work in this city. I think we’re losing sight of the actual issue here.

If you lied on your application, you should take your resignation and you should submit it again and it will be done. We’ve totally lost sight of the issue here. It is not Karen Lake. The issue here is Lynn Rutkowski. We need to remember that.”

The often-offensive rhetoric prompted Hart to ask for a public workshop to better define the rules for the council’s decorum.

“We need to have a council workshop and come up with some definite rules of conduct, fill in some of the blanks that exist in the law,” Hart said. “I hope the council will back me up, but there are common law principles about loyalty. There are common laws concerning censure. There are certain things I think we need to talk about, not so much for us, but for our successors so we know exactly where we stand.”

During the regular meeting on Tuesday, in response to the loss and limited pickup, the council voted to lift its ban on burning yard debris and it agreed with Keystone Heights Elementary that portions of Pecan Street should be closed while students are being dropped off and picked up.