Chippewa Falls Fires City Administrator

Many thanks to Lon P. for passing this on.

Just a couple of years ago the city of Chippewa Falls engaged in a spirited, divisive struggle over whether to create a position of City Administrator. The forces of "professionalism" prevailed, and the position was created. Today the Eau Claire paper reported that administrator Ron Singel, who'd only been on the job since last March, was fired for "personnel" reasons. According to the paper:

The council voted 5-1 in February to hire Singel, who was most recently the city administrator in La Grande, Ore. The council selected Singel from four finalists who came to the city in January 2008.

Councilman Jack Covill abstained from voting on dismissal. He couldn't be reached for comment about why he abstained. However, Covill cast the lone vote against hiring Singel last year, saying he was concerned that Singel had left several jobs quickly in Maine, Alaska and Oregon.

Taxpayers now get to shell out $55,000 to $57,000 to Singel over the next six months. The price of professionalism, I guess.

For what it's worth, the search that led to the Singel selection was managed by Public Administration Associates of Oshkosh.