WALL LAKE, IOWA – JANUARY 17, 2011
The January 17, 2011 Wall Lake City Council work session to review resumes from potential city administrator candidates was called to order at 5:17PM.
City Attorney Warren Bush goes over the rules for review of applications and resumes for public sector employees and indicates that the law comes down on the side of openness, particularly in the realm of public employees who do not have the same privacy rights as do private sector employees.
TRANSCRIPT:
Warren Bush: My understanding of the law based on research that I did today is that when you get into the public sector, basically everything is on the table. So anyone who wants to review resume’s copy resume’s can do so.
The rules that apply in the private sector do not apply in the public sector.
Now when it comes to the actual interviews of the potential employees, the applicants, if they request to have their interview conducted in a closed session, they have that right.
So, the policy is in favor of everything being done in the open, but in that particular situation they can request a closed session.
5:24PM the mayor and the Secretary had a whispered discussion but do not indicate publically what they discussed.
5:28PM the Mayor and the secretary have a discussion about one of the candidates who the secretary labels “less than professional”. They do not mention a name.
5:30PM discussion about councilperson’s brother’s work status.
5:31PM councilperson and the secretary have a whispered discussion about a candidate.
“He’ll probably have a lot of driving to do”
5:33PM Mayor “I’ve got it down to three, probable’s, possibles and no’s
5:41PM Discussion about a city clerk who was recently charged with embezzling.
----------------------The following discussion is missing/didn’t record
5:44 Mayor calls for the council to proceed in an open discussion about the applicants.
- There are 21 applicants.
- Should they live in town?
-- Council thinks the city administrator should live in town.
5:47PM the council proceeds with weeding out candidates.
Alicia Davis
Unanimous no
Maggie Ann Miller
Unanimous no
Nicole Renee Mack
Unanimous no.
Rachel Gerdes
Unanimous no.
Jill Grote
Unanimous no.
Cindy Masching
Unanimous no.
Lori King
Unanimous no.
Lisa Pudenz
Unanimous no.
Mark A Baker
Unanimous no. (over qualified, base salary too high)
Marlene Anderson
Unanimous no.
Shelle Kent
Left in the maybe pile.
Patricia Smith
Maybe
Robert Theulen
Unanimous no.
Sherilyn Butterfield
Unanimous no.
Linda Ross
Unanimous no.
Tonille Campanelli
Unanimous no.
Weston Beneke
Unanimous no.
John Lund
Unanimous no.
Thomas E. Meyer
Yes
Chris Rodman
Yes
Timothy Tracy
Unanimous no.
------------------Recording picks up again.
5:55PM Final four candidates are named.
Chris Rodman
Thomas Meyer
Patricia Smith
Shelle Kent
6:00PM the council discusses the procedure they would like to pursue to conduct interviews.
- Have the interview on a night separate from
6:01PM Council discusses possible starting wage.
- Depends on what the duties of the city clerk will be.
-- City clerk is going to have to communicate with city workers when a call comes into the office.
City of Wall Lake Job proposed City Clerk Job Description
6:04PM Council goes over specific job duties of the new administrator.
- Remove the word “administrator” from the job description.
- Will approve the use of leave time, but will not be in charge of the city employees… will work in an advisory position with other city employees.
- Remove accounting duties for flex plan, (with possible hiring of third party accounting to deal with this due to the complexity of the new health bill.)
- Remove 11 and 12.
- Leave 18 and 26 alone. (with 18 optional.)
- Remove 27, ad elements of 27 to 25.
6:27PM recommends just replacing instances of “Administrator” with the word “Clerk” and letting it go at that since it will probably just end up that way.
- 2 changed to “Shall reside within the city limits.”
- Change general emphasis to “Peform city financial accounting functions”
6:30PM discussion about what the range of pay they may pay the new city clerk.
- Council decides to make the starting wage $35,000.
6:34PM Council debates the necessity of only having an accountant without having administrative duties.
6:50PM Council directs Michelle to contact the candidates and ask them if they are interested in interviewing at the wages the city council is discussing. The council will decide when they will interview interested candidates at the Janaury 24, 2011 city council meeting.
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Is it just me or does it seem from watching the video that the City Council doesn't really have a handle on what role and duties of the new administrator/clerk should be?? Much of the discussion was about doing the books and getting the utility bills out, etc, and what level of skill and experience they could get for $35,000 salary. It is clear that the Council does not assign much importance to the position, as the salary being offered is roughly 1/2 or less than a typical school principal. This is unfortunate bacause, although Wall Lake is a small town, it has a number of city functions that need to be managed
ReplyDeletesuch as the utilities, community center and fitness center,city pool, capital improvements, economic development, etc. One has to wonder if this can be done by someone without the proper training or experience.