Granite Shoals finance director terminated following complaints against the city

Granite Shoals Finance Director Kevin Rule was terminated in mid-January, weeks after raising complaints alleging financial mismanagement and policy violations by City Manager Sarah Novo and Assistant City Manager/Fire Chief Tim Campbell. 

Rule had been placed on a mutually agreed upon paid administrative leave on Dec. 22, with a scheduled return on Jan. 14. He received notice of termination on Jan. 14. Account Specialist Debbie Jennings was terminated one day after Rule’s leave began, on Dec. 23. Both positions remain vacant, according to the Granite Shoals jobs page.

“I believe that my termination was due to the fact that I filed a complaint against the city manager and the assistant city manager. Before that, I was held in high regard for my work,” Rule told DailyTrib.

City Manager Novo did not wish to provide comment on Rule’s complaints or termination.

Assistant City Manager/Fire Chief Campbell confirmed with DailyTrib that Rule was terminated and that the ex-finance director had filed a grievance with the city over the matter. Campbell also said that the Burnet County Sheriff’s Office had completed an investigation into the complaints, with findings expected in the coming weeks. 

City leadership, including Novo and Campbell, referred Rule’s complaints to the BCSO after a lengthy  Dec. 17 City Council meeting, asking for a thorough investigation into the matter. At that same meeting, City Council chose to not engage an outside contractor for the investigation.

According to Rule, his complaints involved alleged misuse of city funds, improper reimbursements, fire equipment funding shortfalls, and a city manager pay increase.

“City Council wants the citizens of Granite Shoals to believe that things have changed. They do not want anybody to believe that there are any problems,” he told DailyTrib. “I was told to ‘play ball,’ and ‘don’t rock the boat’. They don’t want any hint of trouble like there has been in the last four or five years.”

Background

Rule was hired in May 2024, filling a position that had been vacant for nearly two years. 

Granite Shoals had been without a finance director from June 2022, when Russel Martin resigned from the position. Former City Manager Peggy Smith chose not to hire a finance director throughout her tenure as interim city manager and full-time city manager in 2022 and 2023. 

After being hired in 2024, Rule spent weeks unraveling the city’s untracked spending, determining that it had gone $1.5 million over budget in the previous fiscal year. 

maci@thepicayune.com