Lehighton voted 5-1 Monday to oust its borough manager Steve Travers.

After Council finished the agenda, members went into an executive session and came back for the vote to end Travers’ contract.

Council President Grant Hunsicker cast the sole vote in opposition to ending the contract.

“I didn’t like the way they did it,” Hunsicker said Tuesday. “I thought they didn’t give him a chance.”

Council didn’t indicate what its next step would be.

Travers said he was surprised by council’s decision.

“It hit so hard, it was so quick; I’m still trying to process it,” Travers said Tuesday afternoon. “That’s their prerogative; it’s what elected officials can do.”

Travers said the borough has matters it needs to address.

“The big issue that faces the borough is the age of its infrastructure and equipment,” he said. “I know they don’t want to deal with it, but it’s something they have to.”

Councilman Darryl Arner was absent.

Travers, of Kunkletown, was hired by council on a 5-0 vote in August on a one-year contract at a salary of $105,000. He began his position Aug. 15.

Before that, Travers served as Catasauqua borough manager, resigning in June after 4½ years. His last day there was July 27.

Previously, he worked as borough manager of Sharon Hill borough for five years.

In June, council unanimously approved hiring former borough Manager Nicole Beckett through Aug. 21, at the rate of $1,200 per month.

In May 2022, council hired Kim Rubin as interim borough manager until a permanent borough manager was chosen.

Rubin began as interim borough manager on May 23 at a rate of $40 an hour. Rubin had been serving as the borough’s assistant secretary-treasurer.

Beckett, who resigned May 20, 2022, accepted the position of associate director of public service at the Robert B. and Helen S. Meyner Center for the Study of State and Local Government at Lafayette College.

Beckett’s salary was $97,031 with the borough.