Melissa Bliss’ resignation comes 36 days after deputy clerk’s exit
At the tail end of an hour-long Three Rivers City Commission meeting Tuesday, City Manager Joe Bippus announced City Clerk Melissa Bliss had tendered her resignation.
The announcement, which was not included on Tuesday’s agenda, comes just 36 days after former Deputy Clerk Teresa Ives left her position with the city. Details about why and what the city’s succession plan might look like were scant as of press time.
“City manager, are we ready to speak about somebody who you said has tendered a resignation?” Mayor Tom Lowry asked Bippus Tuesday during commissioner comments.
“Yeah.”
“Do we — and that’s official? I mean, it’s happening?” Lowry asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well then, I’ll just, I want to publicly wish Melissa good wishes on wherever she’s headed, and thank her for all of her years of service here because you’ve gone through a lot of troublesome meetings and some tough elections, and I wish you the best in your future, Melissa,” Lowry said.
Lowry then quickly switched gears to wishing everyone happy holidays and reminded commissioners that Tuesday was their last meeting until after the New Year, and Commissioner Pat Dane followed suit. Commissioner Clayton Lyczynski joked he wanted to “publicly not say anything good to Melissa” as he was “sad she was leaving” and took her leaving personally.
Bippus’ message was more earnest. “I worked with Melissa for 10 years, I brought her into this organization, knowing after the first time I met her, she was the perfect person to lead the Three Rivers (Area Community) Foundation, and she just grew and blossomed from there. We kept giving her more and more responsibility, and she’s handled it with ease and grace, and she’s done a great job and I’m sorry to see her leave. From her being the foundation person to deputy city clerk and then handling the city clerk position plus the foundation, she just did an amazing job and I’m sorry and disappointed to see her leave.”
City Attorney J. Patrick O’Malley said he was sorry to see Bliss leave and wished her well. “A city clerk is so important, and particularly important to the city attorney. We could not function without a good city clerk, so I thank you, Melissa.”
The meeting was then adjourned with no further details divulged. Watershed Voice reached out to Ives following Tuesday’s meeting to inquire why she left and to get her thoughts on Bliss’ resignation.
In response to why Ives left her position last month, Ives said, “things changed for me,” and she had not spoken with Bliss “since I left my job (on November 9).” Ives, who now works for Farm Bureau in Cassopolis, said her position with the city was no longer tenable because “I was cut to 18 hours a week, and they took away all my benefits away” in a COVID-cost cutting measure.
Lowry, who also spoke with Watershed Voice following the meeting, said commissioners weren’t told why Bliss was leaving or where she was going once she did.
“It is a loss to the city that she is leaving, and someone is gaining greatly.”
On Wednesday morning, Watershed Voice reached out to Lyczynski for more information, and he confirmed what Lowry said. Commissioners were told Bliss was resigning without further explanation, and Bliss couldn’t say where she was going as “she is not at liberty to say until after the first of the year.”
Requests for comment were sent Tuesday evening to Bippus and Bliss but had not been returned as of publication time.
Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor of Watershed Voice.
