BOZEMAN — Bozeman City Manager Jeff Mihelich has been on paid administrative leave since Feb. 1 following a leaked video call where he disparages colleagues on the City Commission. Now, his story is making headlines outside of Bozeman.
CBS Austin anchor Walt MaciBorski says, "Bozeman Montana’s City Manager is in hot water tonight over a series of comments he made during a video conference call that he thought was private. Included in those comments, were some choice words about the city of Austin, and their open city manager position."
As we previously reported, during the leaked video, Mihelich is seen venting to a colleague about Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham and working in a small town. Mihelich then goes on to talk about getting recruited for Austin's City Manager position.
CBS Austin reporter Andrew Freeman says, "What he thought was in secret, Jeff Mihelich told a colleague that he was contacted by a recruiter searching for Austin City Manager candidates. Not only did he then go on to disparage the city of Austin and its form of government, he alleges he was told that position would pay, get this, $475,000."
In the video, Mihelich says, “But guess what it pays? Just the base salary. You just guess, it’s funny.”
Freeman then goes on to say, "Then he disparages the city with how its government is structured."
Mihelich continues, “There’s no way a city like that operates like it should.”
Freeman reports that they reached out to Mihelich for a statement and did not hear back.
MTN reached out to the City of Bozeman again, and officials say they are looking into the facts of this incident and that it's too early to tell what the next steps will be. Since Mihelich is on administrative leave, there is no way of reaching out to him for comment.
There will be a special meeting open to the public held Monday at City Hall to address the next steps for the City Manager.
