"We don't know what you're doing." Said by the council member who sits on the EDA.
On August 6, 2026 the acting mayor, who also sits on the city's Economic Development Authority, told the administrator that the council is "just kind of trusting that you know what you're doing and we don't know what you're doing." It is the plainest description of Kenyon's oversight on the record.
Mary Bailey has served on the Kenyon City Council through three administrators. She was acting mayor on March 11, 2025 when the Taco Express agreement was ended, she seconded the January 2025 motion that approved the year's appointments "eliminating the audit committee," and she sits on the Economic Development Authority board, which is why she works regularly with Todd Kieffer, the contracted EDA coordinator. On August 6, 2026 she was presiding again, with Mayor Don Kirchmann absent, when the council reached the 2027 budget.
The exchange
Council member Deanna Gard asked whether the council should meet again before September to look at specific items, including Kieffer's position, and to understand what each department does 54:46. City Administrator Scott Lehner answered that any discussion of a specific person's performance would be a closed meeting and that he was not prepared to discuss it in an open setting 55:09. Bailey then spoke.
I work with Todd all the time, so I do know that. Sometimes I think we're just kind of trusting that you know what you're doing and we don't know what you're doing.Mary Bailey, acting mayor, August 6, 2026, 56:53.
The council's response was to agree that department heads should report in person at least quarterly, so members could "understand the spending rather than trusting it," and that the monthly reports would also inform residents watching the recording 54:17. Lehner had announced earlier in the meeting that in-person department updates would begin September 8, and agreed to add Kieffer to the rotation 20:19.
What she was trusting
The sentence is worth taking literally, because the record shows what the council had been trusting. On July 14, asked whether an in-house finance director would cost less than the outside accounting firm, Lehner said the two were "pretty much a wash" before the general ledger detail had been pulled; the same office had told the Kenyon Leader in August 2025 that the firm would cost about $200,000 against $130,000 for a director. On July 14 the firm's own manager reported that the fire levy line in her draft was wrong and that the firm's invoices had been coded to the wrong department. On May 18 the council had approved a tax increment request of $1,855,000 against its advisor's recommendation of $800,000, and on July 14 the city attorney reported that staff had gone back to the developer because the number exceeded what the qualified costs supported.
Bailey was present for each of those. She was one of two council members on July 14 who spoke about the CEDA contract, saying Kieffer "has changed the town" but agreeing the length of the engagement belonged in the review 1:17:56. She had moved, on May 14, 2024, to create an interim administrator position in-house rather than contract for one; the motion died for lack of a second. Her record is not one of a council member who never asked. It is one of a council member who asked, was answered with assurance, and said so.
The last time we met we talked about Todd's position on the EDA. We just talked about that and we didn't really discuss it. We brought it up but we didn't really discuss it.Deanna Gard, Aug. 6, 2026, 54:46, source
The structure behind the sentence
The audit committee, the one council body designed to check the finance function without management in the room, was eliminated on January 14, 2025 on a motion Bailey seconded, after Lehner raised the question with the mayor 30:44. Since then the council has received its financial reports from the vendor it is paying, presented by Zoom. On August 6 that report showed cash and investments of $11,624,033, down about $1.3 million since year end, and a general fund reserve that Lehner put at 17 percent against a 40 percent policy, with "nothing to put into the fund balance" at year end 1:10:49. A council member asked that future reports explain each movement of funds 1:01:25.
"We don't know what you're doing" is not an accusation. It is a description of what happens when the only person who can explain the numbers is the person whose numbers they are. The council said it out loud on August 6. The fix it chose, hearing from department heads in person, is a start. Restoring the committee that used to do this work would be the rest.
Before and after
- May 14, 2024Bailey moves to create an in-house interim administrator position. No second.
- Jan. 14, 2025She seconds the motion approving the appointments "eliminating the audit committee," 5-0.
- March 11, 2025As acting mayor she presides when the Taco Express agreement is ended.
- July 14, 2026She says the EDA coordinator "has changed the town" and agrees the length of the engagement belongs in the review.
- Aug. 6, 2026, 56:53Presiding again: "we're just kind of trusting that, oh, you know what you're doing, and we don't know what you're doing."
- Sept. 8, 2026In-person department head updates begin, the council's chosen remedy.
What the statute says
The council shall have full authority over the financial affairs of the city, and shall provide for the collection of all revenues and other assets, the auditing and settlement of accounts, and the safekeeping and disbursement of public money.
The numbers are the council's responsibility by statute, not the administrator's and not a vendor's.
no governing body member who exercises managerial responsibilities that fall within the scope of the audit should serve as a member of the audit committee
The check on the finance function is meant to sit with council members, not with management or its vendor.
People in this story
- Mary BaileyCouncil member, acting mayor on Aug. 6, 2026, and EDA board member
- Scott LehnerCity administrator since December 2024
- Deanna GardCouncil member, appointed April 14, 2026
- Todd KiefferEDA coordinator, an employee of CEDA under contract
- Jessi SturtzManager of Abdo's team for Kenyon, presenting by Zoom
Sources
- City of Kenyon recording, August 6, 2026, at 20:19, 54:17, 54:46, 55:09, 56:53, 1:01:25, 1:10:49; meeting page.
- City of Kenyon recording, July 14, 2026, at 1:17:56 and 1:25:31.
- Minutes, May 14, 2024; minutes in the February 11, 2025 packet; minutes, May 18, 2026.
- Kenyon Leader, August 2025, on the Abdo contract.
More from the record
A council member asked what a contract costs. Lehner said that's a closed meeting. The statute says it isn't.
KMU offered to lend for housing lots. Twice. The EDA president said there was no money. Two years gone, eight lots left.
Two months after the council approved the TIF, staff told the developer the number doesn't hold up.
All 27, in order · The open letter · Every packet and recording