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Polson city manager, engineer, attorney resign

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POLSON – The City of Polson will be searching for a new city manager after former City Manager Mark Shrives’ contract ended on Oct. 29.

When a vote to renew Shrives’ two-year employment contract failed during a Monday meeting, the Polson City Commission voted five to one to amend the contract to retain Shrives for just one year before further review.

According to Commissioner Bob Martin, Shrives chose not to accept the one-year contract. Martin said that he had not received any official announcement, but a member of the city staff told him that Shrives had resigned. On Oct. 29, the city’s website listed the city manager position as vacant.

Commissioners and members of the public shared their thoughts on the city manager’s performance during a special meeting that lasted an hour and fifteen minutes.

Commissioner Stephen Turner opened the meeting saying that a number of citizens had contacted him urging him to terminate the city manager’s contract. He cited a “negative vibe” in city offices and a sense that the city manager was uncooperative with local businesses.

“The main focus on my part is the city could be doing a lot better being more approachable and wanting to grow,” Turner said.

Martin echoed these sentiments.

“I think we’ve drawn a number of lawsuits because of a general attitude toward working with other people,” he said.

Three community members encouraged commissioners to end the city manager's contract. One said that he felt that Shrives “follows the rules according to his own agenda” and had been unresponsive during a disagreement about codes. The same citizen said that he had “feared retaliation” from Shrives for speaking out. Another encouraged the city to more carefully assess the city manager’s performance before renewing the contract. A community member said that the city manager’s salary was too high for a town with a population of just 5,000.

Mayor Paul Briney said that he had a “working relationship” with Shrives, and he wanted to extend the contract to continue working on ongoing projects. “So far, in my short term here, I’ve been fairly happy,” Briney said of Shrives’ performance.

Commissioners also discussed the delays that would happen in carrying out the strategic plan and other significant city projects if the city had to hire a new city manager.

Shrives said that he was surprised by statements made by Turner and Martin.

“In a way, I feel like it’s a little bit of hit job tonight,” Shrives said. “If there were concerns, why didn’t you come tell me, talk to me and say you weren’t comfortable?”

Community members and commissioners said that they wanted to postpone the vote until Commissioner Lou Marchello, the only commissioner not in attendance, could be present.

Briney said that he had already delayed the vote because he was settling into his duties as mayor. Briney said that as a result, a final decision had to be reached before the end of the meeting.

Commissioner Ian Donovan, Martin and Turner voted against renewing the two-year contract as it was written. Donovan moved to renew the contract for just one year.

A community member commented that the change was not permissible because the public had not been notified of the amendment to the contract. Briney said that it was permissible and the motion passed with all commission members in attendance except for Turner voting for the amended contract.

According to Martin, Shrives announced that he was resigning in the days after the meeting.

Mayor Briney confirmed that subsequent resignations of City Engineer Shari Johnson and City Attorney Richard Gephardt happened as a result of Shrives' departure.

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