City of Bartlesville records, obtained under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, give the first documented look at how City Manager Mike Bailey left office. Guerrilla News filed the request in late September. The City has produced part of it.
On August 7, Bartlesville learned that City Manager Mike Bailey had resigned to "pursue other opportunities."
The City's own records tell a different story.
That morning, Mayor Jim Curd texted Bailey a letter. It carried one request: "I'm asking that you resign your position as Bartlesville City manager, effective immediately."
Less than an hour later, Bailey's resignation went out by email. It told the public he chose to leave.
Fourteen days after that, the City cut him a check for $225,853.33.
Nobody has shown the public a Council vote that approved any of it.
The Text Thread
The Mayor's letter arrived by text message. Bailey answered the way a man answers a boss. The Mayor asked whether the letter covered everything. Bailey wrote back: "Yessir! It does."
Then Bailey offered a suggestion. He proposed a way "to keep this somewhat quiet."
Bailey also wrote that the Mayor "and Trevor" had communicated the request to him. The records the City produced do not say more about who "Trevor" means or what role he played. Guerrilla News reports the words exactly as Bailey wrote them and claims nothing beyond them.
The City has produced only part of this exchange. Guerrilla News has demanded the complete thread.
Why the Wording Matters
Bailey's employment agreement draws a hard line between two ways of leaving. When the City asks him to resign, Sections 6(D) and 6(E) of the contract trigger severance. When he quits on his own, the contract pays nothing.
So the difference between "I'm asking that you resign" and "pursue other opportunities" carries a price tag. The first phrase describes what the Mayor's letter says. The second describes what the public heard.
Read that again.
The $225,853.33 Check
Payroll records the City produced show what happened next. On August 21, the City issued Bailey a check for $225,853.33 gross. The payroll advice breaks it down:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Sick leave payout (1,673 hours) | $173,777.40 |
| Vacation payout | $43,590.00 |
| Other items on the same check | $8,485.93 |
| Gross total | $225,853.33 |
The math on the sick leave: $173,777.40 ÷ 1,673 hours = $103.87 per hour.
The payments did not stop there. The records show Bailey drawing $8,307.98 in base salary every two weeks, and the payments still ran in mid-October. His gross pay for 2026 reached $400,259.31 through October 16.
Now compare those figures with the contract. It sets severance at nine months of pay "including" accrued leave. It pays sick leave on top of severance only in a disability termination.
Simple arithmetic frames the question. At $8,307.98 every two weeks, annual base pay comes to $216,007.48, and nine months of it comes to $162,005.61. The sick leave payout alone exceeds that number by $11,771.79.
Guerrilla News does not claim the City paid twice. The City's leave policy may require it to pay accrued sick leave regardless of how an employee leaves, and the contract's definition of "pay" may differ from the simple figure above. But the records raise a direct question that taxpayers deserve an answer to: did the City pay accrued leave once, or twice?
Guerrilla News has demanded the City's leave policy and the severance calculation.
Who Voted?
The Bartlesville City Charter says the City Council removes a City Manager "by a majority vote of its members." The same charter gives the Mayor "no regular administrative duties."
The Oklahoma Open Meeting Act adds a second layer. In general terms, it bars a majority of a public body from using calls, texts or emails to decide any action outside a public meeting. See 25 O.S. § 306.
Against that backdrop, the City's records show the following so far:
- A letter from the Mayor asking Bailey to resign.
- Bailey's text saying the Mayor "and Trevor" told him.
- Payments starting August 21.
The records the City has produced so far contain no Council vote before the money went out.
The Council did take up the subject later. Item 17 on the October 5 Council agenda asked members to "discuss and take possible action to authorize and initiate a formal, independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Mike Bailey." That item came six weeks after the check. Guerrilla News has requested the minutes and every council communication about the exit.
If a vote happened, the City can produce it. Guerrilla News asked.
The Lawyer Billed the Day Before
Bailey resigned on Friday, August 7. On Thursday, August 6, an Oklahoma City law firm billed the City for a lawyer's time.
The invoice, McAfee & Taft Invoice 836135, shows the dates and the hours. The City blanked out the description of the work and the matter itself. It cited no law and gave no explanation.
The invoice does not say what the lawyer did, and Guerrilla News does not guess. Oklahoma law limits a city's attorney-client privilege to pending claims and investigations. Taxpayers paid this bill, and Guerrilla News has demanded the unredacted version.
The Search Nobody Saw
After Bailey's exit, the City needed a new manager. The emails the City produced show how it handled that search:
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Aug. 28 to Sept. 11 | The City posted the job internally only. |
| Sept. 19 | Interviews stopped "until the council has come up with a plan." |
| Three days later | The City held one closed-door interview and cut the question list to 15. |
Human Resources told candidates the City kept their names off the meeting agenda to keep them "as anonymous as possible."
Interviews in closed session can qualify as lawful under Oklahoma law. The open question concerns the process: how the Council came up with a new plan within three days, and whether it did so in public. Guerrilla News has asked for the records.
Cameras With Blank Audit Boxes
The same production included something unrelated to Bailey but no less important: the City's Flock license plate camera reports. City ordinance requires monthly audits of the system. Guerrilla News received all nine 2026 reports.
In every one, the key compliance fields still read like an unfilled template: "Search Audit Logs Reviewed: [Yes/No]," "Data Retention Policy Enforced: [Yes/No]" and "Compliance Review Completed: [Yes/No]."
The reports also record about 7 million plate reads from January through September, 34 hotlist hits, and data sharing with 429 agencies in seven states. By September, five of the system's 10 cameras sat down.
Guerrilla News does not claim the City violated its ordinance. The reports simply leave those fields blank. Who watches the watchers?
What the City Has Said
The City has cooperated with the mechanics of the request. CFO and City Clerk Jason Muninger and Candice Pullins uploaded the records, including a 38-file production on November 3, and Guerrilla News confirmed receipt.
On November 3, Guerrilla News sent a formal follow-up to Muninger and Pullins, with the City Attorney, the ward councilmembers and Mayor Curd copied. The letter cited deficiencies in the first eleven items: no communications among council members, only part of the Mayor and Bailey text thread, payroll deductions redacted without a stated basis, no separation agreement or record of Council approval, blanked legal billing narratives, and missing Flock report attachments. The letter also added Items 12 through 25.
On November 4, Muninger replied. He asked for a phone number to discuss the items Guerrilla News called deficient, and he said the added items need a separate open records request.
Neither Mayor Curd nor Bailey has commented in the records Guerrilla News holds. This story will carry any response.
What Happens Next
The November 3 letter set deadlines. Guerrilla News demanded a written, item-by-item response and the records for Items 1 through 11, including the unredacted legal billing, by Friday, November 13, 2026. A rolling production of Items 12 through 25 should start by Friday, November 20, 2026. The letter also renewed a request that the City confirm it preserved the records. If the City misses the deadlines, Guerrilla News reserves a complaint to the Attorney General's Public Access Counselor and a lawsuit under the Open Records Act.
What to Do This Week
Bartlesville residents hold the strongest card in this fight: the Council answers to them. Four steps help:
- Attend the next Bartlesville City Council meeting and ask during public comment: "Did a majority of this Council vote to ask Mike Bailey to resign before the City paid him on August 21? Where does that vote appear in the minutes?"
- Ask your ward councilmember in writing whether the Council has seen the severance calculation, and request a copy.
- File your own Open Records Act request with the City Clerk for Council meeting minutes and agendas from August 1 through October 31, 2026.
- Send tips, documents and your own experience to Guerrilla News. We keep sources confidential on request.
The City told the public Bailey chose to leave. The records ask a harder question: who chose, and who voted?
Editor's Note
The quotations attributed to Mayor Jim Curd and Mike Bailey come from text messages and an email the City of Bartlesville produced under the Oklahoma Open Records Act. The payroll figures come from payroll advices the City produced. The Charter language comes from the City's published Charter, Article 2, Section 5 and Article 5, Section 9. The contract descriptions come from Bailey's Employment Agreement, Sections 3(D), 6(B)(1), 6(D), 6(E) and 6(G). The calculations in the check section come from Guerrilla News arithmetic on those figures.
No allegation of unlawful conduct appears against any named person. Guerrilla News reports what the records show and asks questions the records leave open. The City's production remains incomplete, and later records may change the picture.
This article does not constitute legal advice.
Corrections: ron@guerrilla.news
Sources
- City of Bartlesville production, text message screenshots and resignation request letter, Aug. 7, 2026 – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- Bailey resignation email, Aug. 7, 2026 – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- Employment Agreement, Mike Bailey and City of Bartlesville, Sections 3(D), 6(B)(1), 6(D), 6(E), 6(G) – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- Payroll advices, Aug. 21, 2026 and following; 2026 year-to-date gross through Oct. 16 – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- McAfee & Taft, Invoice 836135 (redacted) – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- City manager posting, HR candidate emails and Oct. 8 agenda – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- Flock Safety monthly reports, January through September 2026 – City of Bartlesville, via Open Records Act request.
- Bartlesville City Charter, Article 2, Section 5 and Article 5, Section 9 – City of Bartlesville.
- Oklahoma Open Meeting Act, 25 O.S. § 306 – Oklahoma Legislature.
- Bartlesville City Council agenda, Oct. 5, 2026, Item 17 – City of Bartlesville.
- Guerrilla News follow-up letter to Jason Muninger and Candice Pullins, Nov. 3, 2026, and Muninger reply, Nov. 4, 2026 – Guerrilla News, City of Bartlesville.
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