The Mount Pleasant City Council voted during a special meeting Friday to appoint a former city employee as the interim city manager.

Mo Raissi, the city’s former public works superintendent and director of community services, will serve as the interim city manager while the city begins the search for a permanent manager. Former City Manager Ed Thatcher resigned Monday, days after residents elected three new council members.

Thatcher’s resignation was the latest development in a series of controversies surrounding city government in the Titus County town.

Mount Pleasant is likely to face a $1.3 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year, stemming from the loss of a fire protection agreement between Mount Pleasant and Titus County. The Mount Pleasant Fire Department provided countywide firefighting services for years, but county leaders terminated the agreement with the city in 2023, citing concerns about the contract.

Mount Pleasant residents also have raised concerns about city spending during Thatcher’s tenure, which began in late 2019. The number of city employees has increased, and some residents took issue with raises Thatcher gave employees.

The city has roughly $124 million in outstanding bonds, and in March, credit rating agency S&P Global gave the city a negative bond rating outlook — meaning that the city’s credit rating could be lowered if its financial reserves aren’t restored.

Separately, the Texas Rangers are investigating roughly $40,000 in mileage reimbursements city council members received beginning in 2023.

During the May 4 municipal election, Mount Pleasant residents overwhelmingly ousted two council members — Place 4 Councilman Tim Dale and Place 5 Councilman Henry Chappell II — and elected their challengers, Kelly Redfearn and Carl Hinton, respectively. Former Place 3 Councilman Galen Adams, who did not run for reelection, was replaced by Jonathan Hageman.

Raissi began his career in public service in 1983 as the city of Tyler’s director of athletics and recreation. He worked there until 2000, when he was hired in Mount Pleasant, according to his resume on LinkedIn, a professional networking website.

After leaving Mount Pleasant in 2005, he was hired as the city of Jacksonville’s director of public works. He became the city manager in 2006 and retired in 2018.

Also during Friday’s meeting, the council approved a severance pay agreement with Thatcher, which was called for in his employment contract. Redfearn previously told the News-Journal she was concerned about the cost of the severance agreement: roughly $95,000, equal to six months’ worth of Thatcher’s salary and other benefits. However, she said the city legally had to pay it.

Titus County resident David Ruff said during Friday’s meeting that the council shouldn’t pay Thatcher any money until investigations into the city are concluded.

“I understand the lawyers said, ‘We’ve got to follow contract, blah, blah, blah,’ ” Ruff said. But people “have come up with a lot of things on this ex-city manager. Why are we putting the cart before the horse?”

Also Monday, Councilman Jerry Ward resigned effective immediately.