Ozark -- Members of the Christian County Planning and Zoning Commission were shocked to learn Monday evening that acting director Glenda Hammons had been terminated Thursday by the county commission. Hammons had been in the position since May 2005.

In the action to fire Hammons, Western District County Commissioner Bill Barnett cast the only "no" vote against Presiding Commissioner John Grubaugh and Eastern District Commissioner Tom Huff.

Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Gerald Griffin, unhappy with the decision, said commission members were not consulted or informed of Hammons' dismissal either before or after the action.

"She just ruffled feathers because she wouldn't bend the rules for anybody," Griffin said.

Zoning commissioner John Uhrig said, "I think we should have been extended the courtesy of a discussion with the commission before they met in closed session."

Fellow commissioner Bob Hudgins added: "I just hope that it wasn't for political purposes."

Hammons, 45, said she was not notified of the closed meeting but has been expecting to get the ax "now that the election's over and Huff is back in to side with Grubaugh. They're at it again."

She recalled butting heads with the county commission several times and said there had been one previous attempt to fire her.

She said the effort to dismiss her surfaced in December 2007, when Hammons was quoted in a local publication saying she had been "under political pressure" to put a developer on the zoning commission's agenda before he had met an absolute policy that requires developers to have their engineering done before appearing before planning and zoning.

"If I had it to do over again, I'd say 'because John Grubaugh made me,' " Hammons said.

Shortly after Hammons' quote came out, Grubaugh reportedly was heard by several people in the courthouse swearing he would fire Hammons. Instead she got 30 days probation.

"They never contacted me after that, so I thought everything was fine," Hammons said.

Griffin said the county commission had "planned to fire Hammons the day they threw (County Clerk) Kay (Brown) out of a closed session, but they backed off at that time."

The meeting was cancelled after Brown refused to leave, stating it was her job to take the minutes.

'Resign or be fired'

It was after another closed session, Thursday, that Hammons was called to meet with the county's human resource consultant, Glenn Pace.

"He told me I had two choices ... to resign or be fired," she said.

She said Pace gave her no details as to why she was being terminated except that the county had received "some complaints from developers and staff" and she was "weak on people skills."

Hammons told Pace she would not quit.

"He gave it to me right then," she said. "He had the two papers ready."

County Senior Planner Bob Atchley was told he would be leading the department while it was reorganized.

"Basically the staff was told Thursday by Grubaugh that Glenda no longer worked for the county and they would disclose more at a later time," Atchley said.

None of the county commissioners returned repeated phone calls from the News-Leader from Friday through Monday evening.

Support for Hammons

Many of the zoning commission members were supportive of Hammons.

"She has done nothing but help the county," said Griffin. "Sure there were a few complaints, but at P and Z you're going to get complaints."

Commissioner Lou Lapaglia agreed.

"I think the world of her professionally. She got her tail in the wringer because she refused to break the rules," he said. "I believe in following the rules and not to deviate from something that has been approved -- especially not on the absolute policies -- the ones you cannot bend.

"You either treat all residents the same or you do not."