A little more than three months since his arrival, Missouri City Manager Charles “Tink” Jackson is out on administrative leave, but city leaders aren’t saying why.

The city council emerged early Tuesday morning, after spending more than three hours in closed executive session, and opted to place Jackson on paid administrative leave for 60 days, pending an investigation into allegations surrounding him.

The motion to place Jackson on leave came shortly after Councilperson Vashaundra Edwards made a motion to dismiss Jackson. Edwards asserted her motion was based on evidence released during the closed session that Jackson had allegedly violated the city’s charter requirements about ethical tenants and hiring and firing individuals in his office.

Aside from those brief comments that prefaced a 6-1 vote in favor of placing Jackson on leave, no one associated with the city has provided more information about what led to the sudden reversal on Jackson’s tenure.

“As you may know, the city of Missouri City does not comment on personnel matters,” Councilperson Jeffrey Boney wrote when asked for comment.

Mayor Robin Elackatt and Councilmember Monica Riley provided similar responses, referring all questions to city spokesperson Tara Crain.

Crain reiterated that the city does not comment on personnel matters, but confirmed that Jackson remained employed by the city as of Tuesday afternoon.

Jackson was hailed as recently as last month as a turning point for the city after years of turnover at the city manager position.

The city council in December unanimously approved hiring Jackson as the city’s next city manager, bringing an end to a search that began shortly after then-city manager Odis Jones was fired in a 5-2 vote in April 2021.

The city manager spot in Missouri City had become something of a revolving door in recent years. Before Jones’ firing, the council also ousted Anthony Snipes from the position in February 2020 in a 4-3 vote. Bill Atkinson had been serving as the city’s interim city manager during the search that led to Jackson’s hiring.