Wright City is searching for a new city administrator after aldermen last week voted to fire Jim Schuchmann. 

The 4-0 vote came during a closed session meeting held by aldermen on April 13. 

Schuchmann, who previously served as a city alderman from 2006 to 2016, was appointed city administrator in January 2019. He was initially hired by the city in 2017 as project manager to oversee the city’s renovation of its current city hall and police department buildings.

Mayor Michelle Heiliger declined to go into specifics on the firing.

“There were underlying reasons for the decision by the board,” she told The Record. “Wright City as a whole, our culture, our vision, is changing. We needed to be building a team that followed that path.”

Schuchmann said he was fired for violating the city’s purchasing policy.

“I was not given anything further than that,” he remarked. “I worked on developing that policy. In no way did I violate the purchasing policy.”

Schuchmann said he may take legal action against the city. He claimed all of his personnel reviews were good and he had no reprimands during his time employed with the city.

“I feel everyone should have due process,” Schuchmann said. “ I had received no questions about anything.”

He later added, “I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the city. I felt we did some good things and had the city moving in the right direction. I hate that it comes to an end like this.”

Heiliger said a new hire will only be a city administrator as the project manager tasks are no longer needed. She said the position’s pay could be reduced, but will be tied to a new hire’s experience as the city’s population continues to increase.

“There are a lot of surrounding communities who started small and went through that growth,” Heiliger said. “We would love to have someone who experienced that, but prefer a small community feel. We definitely want someone who has experience in city planning. That would be really good for us.”