Friday Update: Today's meeting will be in OPEN session. My apologies for stating below that it would be a closed meeting. I still can't make it due to teaching obligations (what the Northwestern calls "previous commitments").
Tomorrow the Oshkosh Common Council will meet in closed session at 10:30 a.m. to discuss Mayor Tower's recommendation to suspend the search for an interim city manager. I will not be at that meeting because I teach at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. If I were at the meeting, here's what I would say:
So far I have heard no compelling argument to justify suspending the search for an interim city manager.
At the November 6th meeting, the council decided that five applicants for the interim city manager position should be named as finalists and brought to Oshkosh for interviews. After the meeting, the mayor in open session announced the names of the finalists. Shortly thereafter, the local newspaper reported the names of the candidates along with information about each. One local blogger has referred to the quality of that reporting, correctly in my view, as a "train wreck."
All candidates applied in good faith for the position. On paper, each of the five finalists is qualified according to the position description the council agreed to. To announce their names in public and then cancel the search is, it seems to me, a violation of the basic standards of fairness in recruiting. No applicant for any position deserves to be treated that way.
Some would argue that we should keep the acting city manager in place until we are ready to begin a search for a permanent city manager, probably in January. Such a search would take at least 6 months and quite possibly a year (or more). An acting city manager, especially one who already has other responsibilities in city hall, is in no position to take a leadership role in key economic development, supervisory, and other issues facing the city. None of those issues disappear while we are taking a year to hire a permanent city manager.
I urge the councilors attending the November 6th meeting to be fair to the finalists and continue the search for an interim city manager.
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4 comments:
I'm actually shocked, SHOCKED that you'd find no compelling reason to abort the interim search and move directly to hire a permanent manager. We have four key city positions needing to be filled.
-FOUR-. Three of those will work under the direction of the city manager. Director of Finance, Director of Transportation and City Attorney. Not exactly lightweight positions to fill. Add to that the additional burden on our Personnel Department. It's definitely impacting on the operation of the city.
I find that VERY COMPELLING!
If it takes a year to hire a qualified city manager then something is seriously wrong with the hiring process. Any executive staffing agency worth it's weight in salt has the resources to recruit and allow you to start the interviewing process for a permanent manager within a couple of weeks.
I may be wrong but think you're overly concerned with the possibility of a referendum for change of government and it's impeding not only progress but the very workings of the entire city government. Four departments (and more)are in limbo.
If the council had started the search for a permanent city manager when Richard Wollangk submitted his resignation we'd be three months into hiring.
The council has embarassed itself enough in every step of this debacle.
Stop floundering and chart the course. Don't hold the city hostage in political limbo and uncertainty.
As a member of city council you have the compelling obligation to fill the position of city manager and get the city back on track.
Don't wait until January--do it now. PLEASE.
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Think of the city as a corporation. Even if it were in the process of fighting a hostile takeover, a board of directors would want to hire the best CEO you could possibly muster and let him build a solid corporate team to thwart off disaster. Positions aren't filled willy-nilly. Start at the top and let that CEO build his best team.
CJ,
You must know something I don't. I didn't know we were going to wait until a new city manager was hired before filling those positions you mentioned.
I actually don't disagree with much of what you say, though the council did follow your suggested procedure on how to move forward in 1996. I offer you the last 11 years as evidence of why that approach maybe isn't the best.
My major concern, as noted in my original post, is fairness to people who apply for jobs in this city. If the council wanted to suspend the search, we needed to do it before announcing we had 5 qualified candidates. To suspend a search after making that announcement is, I think, very embarrassing. You have to wonder how many qualified candidates will apply to work in a place that places the names of finalists on the front page of the paper and then literally the next days says, "never mind!"
As for a possible referendum, the majority of feedback I get around town is from people who want to see a change of government. Other councilors claim they receive feedback from people who want the current system or don't care either way. That tells me that the population is divided, and I don't think the manager form works very well under those conditions. That's just my view.
P.S. This email just came in from Babblemur:
Next Wednesday Nov. 14, 7-8:45 P.M. at the Oshkosh Public Library Meeting rooms A&B
There will be a public meeting to discuss launching a referendum petition to abandon the city manager form of government in Oshkosh and replace it with a traditional Mayor-Alderman form of government.
To put this direct legislation on the ballot will require around 4,000 signatures in a sixty day window with a drop dead completion date of January 16, 2008.
If you know anyone that has been frustrated with the city manager form of government and wants to return Oshkosh to the traditional Mayor-Alderman form of government that 95% of Wisconsin cities use, please pass this on to them and encourage them to come to this meeting.
If there is not enough support to do the difficult work of putting this critical question on the Oshkosh Ballot in April we will not proceed.
"You must know something I don't. I didn't know we were going to wait until a new city manager was hired before filling those positions you mentioned.
I actually don't disagree with much of what you say, though the council did follow your suggested procedure on how to move forward in 1996. I offer you the last 11 years as evidence of why that approach maybe isn't the best."
Tony- The only thing I know is when this all started, there was one position to be filled. And it's still open.
Since then three more key and critical positions have become available.
Did you read my afterthought post?
I would hope that you would not fill those positions before you found a permanent city manager. Allow the permanent city manager to select personnel to fill the open positions and build a cohesive city team. I hope that helps you to understand what I meant.
You point to the last eleven years as evidence. Don't. The city manager position was a shoo in after a mishandled nation wide search.
You and this council have the ability to change that. Don't set us up for failure and then bring in a local ringer. And yeah, it sucks for Doug Pearson since he's made his retirement arrangments already.
"As for a possible referendum, the majority of feedback I get around town is from people who want to see a change of government."
I think it's a real mixed bag. More for existing form than for change. The majority of folks I talk to don't really care which form of government we have. They want effective, progressive leadership to make things happen; get things done.
I'm happy to hear the Babblemur is taking up the cause you all wish so dearly for. Instead of talking about it, we'll finally get action rather than lip service.
My main concern with a change of government is do we really have any viable candidates for an elected mayor and if so, who are they?
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my original post.
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