Overview
- City Manager Sheryl Long dismissed Theetge on Thursday effective immediately, kept Interim Chief Adam Hennie in command, and gave Theetge 10 days to appeal in writing.
- The decision followed a Frost Brown Todd review that interviewed 32 people and concluded Theetge was not an effective leader, citing siloed units and strained communication.
- A seven-page termination letter cited insubordination and inefficiency and said Theetge resisted the 2025 Summer Safety Plan by not staffing downtown details even after repeated prodding.
- Long’s letter also pointed to two October 2025 Fountain Square shootings and said Theetge skipped a next-day public safety town hall, which the city cast as a lapse in judgment.
- Theetge and her attorney rejected the findings as unlawful and political, planned to appeal, and faced a new claim from Mayor Aftab Pureval that she later sought $7.5 million to resign, which he said the city refused.