LAFAYETTE COUNTY - At a meeting that went into closed session for one hour and forty-five minutes, the Finance Committee came out of closed session and approved the termination of Nicola Maurer, Finance Director for Lafayette County.
    Coming back into open session a motion was made by David Hammer and seconded by Larry Ludlum to terminate Finance Director Nicola Maurer immediately based on performance issues related to the insurance reconciliation, retirement inaccuracies and not properly training and cross-training employees. Maurer asked if she would be able to speak and was told she would not be allowed to speak. A roll call vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously. Chairman Jack Sauer asked Chief Deputy Sheriff Troy Loeffelholz to escort Maurer to her office.
     Next, with the vacancy, the committee is scrambling to fill the void in the department. Sandy Russell (a former employee in the finance dept.) would be contacted and asked to fill-in at $30 per hour with no benefits to help out the department. They will also reach-out to Lisa Caya, who now works in the Clerk of Court department, to help with accounts payable in the Finance department, after working hours, at time and a half.
    Finally, the committee will immediately repost the half-time Accounting Assistant position in the Finance Department and the half-time Finance Manager position at the Lafayette Manor Nursing Home within the county only to see if there are any interested candidates.