Sexting video of Shawnee city manager was sent to employees, roiling City Hall

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Shawnee city leaders and employees are shocked, left wondering about the future, after some employees received an email containing an explicit video of their new city manager masturbating.

Doug Gerber, who was hired as city manager in March, did not personally send the video to employees. Nor was it sent from the official city computer system. It was emailed to multiple employees on Sept. 29 by an anonymous third party who, in recent emails with The Star, said they wanted to reveal Gerber’s online behavior.

After hearing of the video this week, The Star on Monday filed a Kansas Open Records Act request of emails related to the incident and any subsequent investigations.

It was only after The Star filed the request that multiple City Council members — including the mayor — said they learned that the video existed and that a number of city employees had been affected.

On Tuesday, three members of the City Council called for a special closed-door meeting to be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday to discuss the events. That meeting comes six days before the Nov. 7 council election.

“I find it incredulous that nobody told the City Council,” Eric Jenkins, council president, told The Star. “We’ve got an HR director, two assistant city managers, department heads, the city manager. I mean nobody would bother to tell the elected representatives this is percolating down here at City Hall? …

“Ethically, it was certainly the responsibility of the city manager to advise us that this email did exist at City Hall and with the staff. He really needed to tell us.”

Reached at Shawnee City Hall on Wednesday, Gerber opted not to answer questions related to the video, why someone might send it and why numerous city leaders were reportedly not made aware of it.

“I think it’s not in the city’s best interest right now to comment,” Gerber said.

By Kansas statute, Gerber can claim victim status. As state law says, it is unlawful to disseminate “any videotape, photograph, film or image of another identifiable person 18 years of age or older who is nude or engaged in sexual activity and under circumstances in which such identifiable person had a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intent to harass, threaten or intimidate such identifiable person, and such identifiable person did not consent to such dissemination.”

Gerber would not discuss why the video was made. Several Shawnee city employees late last month received an email with the subject line, “MOST IMPORTANT.” The attached video was clearly of their boss.

The video, which The Star reviewed, appears to have been filmed by Gerber alone on a couch. It is unclear when or where the video was taken, or whether it was a direct recording or screen recording of a video call.

After the email arrived, a Shawnee information technology employee sent out a staff-wide email saying the message had gotten through the city’s email filtering because it was a standard video file from a generic outside account. The account was blocked.

“This is just a disturbed individual trying to cause issues with the city,” read the IT email, obtained by The Star.

A few city employees told The Star that some had taken screenshots of the video and saved it. The video has been the talk of City Hall among staff who are frustrated that there was no explanation or apology given after they saw the graphic content.

Employees told The Star that they had no knowledge of an internal investigation. City spokesman Doug Donahoo on Wednesday declined to comment.

Reached by the Star through email, the individual or individuals who disseminated the video refused to speak by telephone because of “confidentiality reasons.” The sender claimed Gerber created the video to entice another individual, a claim The Star could not confirm.

“We don’t hesitate to expose people involved in these dubious and un-Catholic practices,” the sender said.

Gerber was hired at a tense time in Shawnee, as the city has lost several head staffers over the past couple of years, including its previous city manager, communications director, finance director, deputy city manager and others. Some officials say Gerber’s hiring was contentious, but many council members have touted the choice as an example of the city moving forward with strong leadership.

Gerber joined the city in March, where he’s earning a $190,000 annual salary, plus perks, according to his contract. He previously worked for the city of Topeka, where he was hired in 2014 to be financial and administrative services director, and later worked as deputy city manager. His position was terminated in 2020 along with two others, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. The city said it eliminated the jobs to cut costs during COVID-19.

He later worked for JEO Consulting Group. He also previously served as city manager of both Goodland and Beloit, Kansas, according to his bio.

Shawnee Mayor Michelle Distler said that she had previous concerns about Gerber related to his time in Topeka before Shawnee hired him.

“I do not have all the details of this incident,” Distler said in a written statement. “However, I was not incredibly surprised when I was notified about the KORA request from The KC Star. What I do know is during the city manager hiring process, the governing body had been made aware of previous issues and accusations against Mr. Gerber.

“The additional concerns I raised during those discussions were dismissed and the council proceeded to choose Mr. Gerber, stating he most closely aligned with their values.”

Distler, who is not running for reelection this year, has found herself at odds with most of the council over the past year. Jenkins countered that before Gerber was hired, the council did press the consultant leading the city manager job search to look into rumors of any previous “impropriety.”

“The reply,” Jenkins said, “was that she had thoroughly searched the employment background of Mr. Gerber and had found absolutely nothing that would give us cause to not select him.”

Gerber’s contract with the city of Shawnee states that his firing without cause would require the city to pay six months worth of his salary as severance. Termination with cause, or a resignation, would not require a payout.