FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Frankfort City Commission fired City Manager Keith Parker “without cause” by a 3-2 vote at its work session Monday night, according to The State Journal.

The report says the vote came following a closed session that last more than two hours.

Commissioner Eric Whisman made the motion to fire Parker, with Commissioner John Sower and Mayor Bill May voting to terminate Parker immediately, according to the newspaper report.

Commissioners Katrisha Waldridge and Scott Tippett were the two ‘no’ votes, according to the report.

Parker was hired as city manager in February 2019 after serving several months as interim co-city manager.  Prior to that, Parker led the city’s Public Works Department, according to the newspaper.

No other agenda items were addressed at the work session, including discussion about the mayor’s hiring of an outside public relations firm for the city at a cost of $5,000 per month using Frankfort’s COVID-19 emergency declaration, according to The State Journal.

The mayor told the newspaper he wanted to hire Boxcar Public Relations out of Louisville in case a crisis occurred in the midst of the pandemic, as well as protests about shutdowns due to the coronavirus and racial injustice.

Mayor May also told the newspaper the period the city contracted with Boxcar, which began more than two months ago and is scheduled to run through Nov. 1, could work as a test run to see if the city ought to hire a full-time communications director.

Commissioner Waldridge told the paper she knows nothing the public relations firm has done for the city or the nature of any of its work.  She planned to bring the issue up at Monday’s special work session meeting, but following the firing of the city manager, the meeting was adjourned against Waldridge’s wishes, according to the report.