Whitaker
Andrews – The Andrews Board of Aldermen terminated Natasha Whitaker as the town’s clerk and tax collector, naming finance officer Ethan McCubbin to fill in during the interim.
Whitaker said she was texted by Town Administrator Tammy Holloway on June 2 notifying her that she was terminated and informing her about how she should retrieve her personal belongings from the office.
There was a glitch, however. Because Whitaker was appointed to her positions by the aldermen, only the board has the authority to change her employment status.
The board met on June 6 for its regular meeting, with an agenda lean on activity but extra attention paid to executive session, specifically the part where the board would “consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment or conditions of initial employment of an individual public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee.”
But before that, the mayor opened up the meeting for public comment. That’s when Whitaker stepped up to give her side.
Whitaker did not explain why she was being terminated. Town officials declined to comment on what they discussed in secret.
It wasn’t the first time that Whitaker has had personnel issues while working for Town Hall. In January 2021, she was arrested on a DWI charge after a citizen called to report a reckless driver. She was given a three-month demotion, then reinstated as town clerk the following May.
At the June 6 meeting, Whitaker did not dispute whether she should be fired, but did dispute how she was fired. During the public comment portion of the meeting, Whitaker said she was texted by the town manager on June 2 and not permitted to finish her shift, but her issue was that the town manager did not have authority to dismiss her.
The Andrews Board of Aldermen made short work of that. After meeting in executive session, the board reconvened in open session and voted unanimously to terminate Whitaker.