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Major shake-up of Branson city government in progress

Branson City Hall
explorebranson.com
Branson, Missouri's city hall is seen in this undated photo.

Southwestern Missouri's down-home tourism hub has seen the departure of at least three high-level city employees in recent times, with more likely to come.

A major shake-up among Branson city leadership is in progress. In a wave election last year focused on discontent over mask mandates, Branson voters chose Mayor Larry Milton to lead the down-home tourist hub.

Since then, recent elections brought three new members to the town board of aldermen, joining the outspoken mayor.

A week ago, Mayor Milton was quoted in the Branson Tri-Lakes News as saying over the coming days and weeks residents "will notice some staff changes at City Hall." Residents say his comments stirred up a lot of discussion in Branson. Through a spokesperson, Milton declined to be interviewed by KSMU.

This week, Branson’s board of aldermen called a special meeting closed to the public under a Missouri law allowing secrecy for personnel issues. At that meeting, the board voted to put City Administrator Stan Dobbins on “administrative leave” through April 30, when he’s likely to retire.

Earlier, Branson’s assistant city administrator resigned. And two months before the recent elections, Branson’s city attorney left to work for the Greene County Prosecutor.

On Thursday, Branson announced another special closed meeting scheduled for Friday night to discuss more personnel issues. It’s not clear what those might be. A city spokesperson did not respond to KSMU by deadline.

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Gregory Holman is a KSMU reporter and editor focusing on public affairs.