Rison Recorder/Treasurer Tenders Resignation

RISON - The Rison City Council accepted the resignation of Recorder/Treasurer Rhonda Hopson during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday night, and Mayor Charles Roberts informed the council a registered letter will be going out soon to being the legal process of addressing nuisance properties in the city.Roberts told the city council that he found Hopson’s letter in a rocking chair on his front porch after returning home last Wednesday night, May 28. Hopson wrote in the letter that her resignation was effective immediately.Hopson was appointed by the city council as the interim recorder/treasurer for the City of Rison in September 2024 following the passing of Rhonda Thompson, who died on Aug. 2, 2024. Since there was an election in November 2024, Hopson has maintained the position going into the new term that began Jan. 1, 2025.While her letter stated she was resigning as recorder/treasurer, the letter also brought up issues she claimed she experienced while serving in a separate position as the office/business manager for the city. Recorder/treasurer is an elected position while the office/business manager position is a job within the city government. Hopson was hired for business manager job after she was appointed recorder/treasurer. Thompson served both positions for the city as well.  Roberts read the letter in its entirely, which was a little over one page long. In it, Hopson claimed she was harassed and put under pressure by the mayor and the water department clerk while fulfilling her new duties as as the business manager.Hopson stated in the letter that she was never given a fair chance at the job since the person in charge of training her was fired before she could learn the position. She said she was wrongfully terminated after 29 days on the job. “From the very beginning, I was set up to fail,” Hopson wrote in the letter. Hopson said she would explore her legal options.While ...