Topeka city council votes to terminate City Manager Stephen Wade

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Topeka City Council members have voted to terminate City Manager Stephen Wade.

The council announced its decision at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting after the members returned from executive session. Council members unanimously voted 10 to zero to terminate Wade for an undisclosed reason. Kansas law allows a public body to discuss certain subjects in private during executive session. The details of what was discussed were not released.

On June 6, the city announced Wade was taking an extended leave of absence for an undisclosed amount of time. The reasons behind his decision have not been made public.
A city spokeswoman declined comment further, as it relates to a personnel matter, but assured the community no city business would be interrupted during Wade’s absence.

Retired Ottawa City Manager Richard Nienstedt has been serving as Acting Topeka City Manager in the weeks since Wade stepped away.