Recently Hired County Administrator Bradley Gotshall’s Resignation Accepted After Largely Closed Special Meeting

A press release was sent out at 5:44 p.m., just 16 minutes before the 6 p.m. start of the Warren County Board of Supervisors Special Meeting on Wednesday, January 28th, focusing on the lone topic of that meeting. That topic was the resignation of County Administrator Bradley Gotshall. Gotshall was appointed to succeed retiring County Administrator Ed Daley on September 11, 2025. According to County officials, Gotshall’s resignation was submitted the afternoon of January 28th, several hours before the scheduled Special Meeting to discuss his future in Warren County government.

It may be noted that Gotshall did not attend Wednesday evening’s meeting.

County Attorney Jason Ham was alone next to the empty County Administrator’s seat during the Jan. 28 meeting. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

That Gotshall’s future could be a Board of Supervisors majority’s support of his termination was suggested in a submitted Opinion piece by Gotshall supporter, North River Supervisor Richard Jamieson, to the Royal Examiner. That piece titled “Transparency to Opacity: Professional Hiring to Political Firing“ was published January 27. In it, Jamieson criticizes what he presented as “termination ‘without cause’ — the contract provision that exists when an employer simply wants someone gone for reasons unrelated to job performance.”

But is that an accurate portrayal of what led to Gotshall’s notice of resignation being submitted just hours prior to the scheduled closed meeting discussion of his immediate future here? After the meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m., this reporter asked for comment on the Gotshall resignation situation from what appears to be the new 3-2 supervisors’ majority: Chairman Cheryl Cullers, Vice Chairman Tony Carter, and Fork District representative Hugh Henry. All declined to comment. This reporter’s perception was that the reason was that the topic was a personnel matter discussed in closed session for potential legal reasons. As such, it would likely be protected from FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests due to those parameters designed to protect the staffers’s interests in closed sessions. It may be noted that County Attorney Jason Ham joined the board in the closed session.

County Attorney Jason Ham, seated to the left, dark suit, joins the supervisors as they adjourn to closed session at 6:05 p.m. Below, the ‘Meeting in Progress’ sign outside the closed Caucus Room door, and the board comes out of closed session at 7:17 p.m.

The motions both into (6:05 p.m.) and out of closed session (7:17 p.m.) were made by Supervisor Henry, seconded by Vice-Chairman Carter, and approved by 5-0 votes. Following the motion to exit closed session, Chairman Cullers cited the board’s acceptance of Gotshall’s resignation. As noted above, Gotshall was not in attendance at the Special Meeting, which adjourned at 7:20 p.m. following the chair’s announcement of acceptance of County Administrator Gotshall’s resignation.

That the board majority didn’t want to cast public condemnations of Gotshall’s nearly five-month tenure here, following a somewhat controversial and somewhat publicly critical appraisal of his previous municipal manager’s job in Pennsylvania, was illustrated in the press release issued by Board Clerk Zach Henderson at 5:44 p.m.:

“The Board of Supervisors thanks Gotshall for his service to Warren County and wishes him well in future endeavors,” the press release on his resignation states.

As to the aftermath of Gotshall’s resignation on county governmental operations, that press release adds: “The Board will take action to ensure continuity of operations and will begin the process of selecting an interim County Administrator and conducting a search for a permanent replacement. County services and operations will continue without interruption.”

County Administrator Bradley Gotshall stares down the staring camera at the earlier Board meeting. Below, from left, County Sheriff Crystal Cline, Human Resources Director Kayla Darr, IT Director Todd Jones, and Deputy County Administrator Jane Meadows during a closed session they did not participate in.

In his personal perspective critique, Jamieson also noted costs associated with County Administrator Gotshall’s leaving his job early without certain job performance failures being cited: “The cost? Up to six months of salary and benefits continuing until he finds other full-time employment. For budgeting purposes, the full amount must be assumed, ~$113,000, plus the lost value of the $34,500 recruiting firm fee,” Jamieson wrote to the Royal Examiner. He also raised some of these issues in a public statement made prior to adjournment into closed session.

Richard Jamieson reads his prepared statement on his ongoing, negative non-legal perception of the use of Closed Sessions by the supervisors as Chairman Cheryl Cullers and Fork District representative Hugh Henry listen.

From left, former supervisors Walt Mabe, Vicky Cook, and “Jay” Butler converse during a closed session. They were present to observe much of Wednesday’s meeting.

It may be noted that former supervisors “Jay” Butler and Vicky Cook were present, as was Walt Mabe, whose tenure was a bit longer than Butler’s and Cook’s. They were part of the small crowd gathered to see what resolution would be the result of the Special Meeting and its closed session discussion. However, there is no public comments section in Special Meetings, so we did not get to hear those attendees’ thoughts on the matter. However, Supervisor Jamieson did make a public statement, echoing some of the points above, prior to the adjournment to Closed Session.

“Before we enter closed session, I want to state for the record: The public deserves to know why we’re spending $113,000 in severance after hiring this administrator just 4 months ago through a professional search that took 5 months and cost $34,500,” Jamieson said in opening his critical remarks.

The BOS Special Meeting is convened at 6 p.m., then adjourned to Closed Session at 6:05 p.m. for an hour and 12 minutes, leaving Board Clerk Zach Henderson, far right, to hold the dias down. The board came out of closed session at 7:17 p.m. and adjourned the open portion of the meeting at 7:20 p.m. The open session lasted 8 minutes, compared to the closed session’s 72 minutes.

See the County video for the full context of the Special Meeting, at least the part not conducted in closed session.