Former Ogdensburg city manager resigns from new post in Alaska

Oct. 10—PALMER, Alaska — Former Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen P. Jellie has resigned from his new position as manager of Palmer, Alaska, after less than two months of employment.

According to the Frontiersman news outlet, the Palmer City Council accepted the resignation of Jellie following an emergency council meeting Wednesday evening that was prompted by concern over his plans for the consolidation of services as well as the placing of Palmer's long-time police chief, Dwayne Shelton, on administrative leave after he brought forth public safety concerns.

It was reported by the Mat-Su Sentinel that Jellie received a $75,000 payout in exchange for his resignation.

Prior to his employment in Palmer, Jellie had been the fire chief/EMS chief in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, before leaving this past winter due to controversy. He was paid $150,000 upon his departure from Jackson Hole.

Prior to Jackson Hole, he had been the city manager of Ogdensburg from 2020 until the fall of 2022. He was paid $50,000 in a buyout agreement when he left the city of Ogdensburg's employment.

Prior to Ogdensburg, Jellie served as deputy fire chief at Fort Drum.

According to an article in the Anchorage Daily News, Palmer City Council members stated they were unaware of Jellie's resignations prior to offering him the position because "human resources officials instructed them not to conduct their own research on his background and they were never given findings from his employment check."

In August, Jellie was censured by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) at the union's biennial convention in Boston, "stemming from his actions in New York during which he repeatedly demonstrated a disregard of the law, fundamental lack of respect for professional fire fighters and callous and careless actions that compromised the safety of the community and the fire fighters serving it."

The IAFF stated that in Jackson Hole, Jellie "created unsafe work environment for responders by cutting minimum staffing ... reducing the qualifications needed for members of the fire service, and misrepresenting the resources and fiscal condition of Teton County."