The Kent County administrator continues to fight Levy Court’s effort to remove him.
Ken Decker remains on the city’s payroll, and his termination will not be finalized without a second vote by the court.
“Until that second vote occurs, I guess [I’m] kind of in a limbo status. Certainly always hold out hope that there's some kind of a non-adversarial resolution, but that's really out of my hands at this point,” Decker said.
Levy Court voted to remove Ken Decker from the position on September 24 but needs to pursue another resolution to finalize the move. It held a public termination hearing Nov. 6, and commissioners met to discuss the hearing again Tuesday in executive session.
Decker’s attorney Daniel Griffith said his termination violated several state and federal laws, including the First Amendment, 14th Amendment and Delaware Whistleblower’s Protection Act.
Kent County Levy Court leases property to the Polytech School District for $1 per year, a decision made last year.
Levy Court Commissioner George Sweeney is a district employee and has at least one immediate family member who is also an employee.
Decker brought this to the Public Integrity Commission, which ruled it was a conflict of interest and Sweeney should have recused himself from the vote.
“No one should be above those rules,” Decker said. “And just from a pure liability standpoint, just speaking pragmatically, it's far better to go to a public ethics commission or a body and get an opinion than to take action.”
Griffith says Decker was removed because he acted as a whistleblower.
Griffith and Kent County lawyers are discussing resolutions. Decker and Griffith are prepared to pursue a wrongful termination suit if a final termination resolution goes through.
