City manager search hesitancy sparks commission conflict
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POLSON – It will be at least another month before the City of Polson takes action toward hiring a new city manager. After nearly five months without a city manager, the commission voted four to one to table a vote on the selection process for the next two meetings.
The vote came after the commission-appointed city manager search committee recommended that the city contract with a professional hiring firm instead of relying on the search committee to facilitate the process.
“The majority of the committee members did not feel qualified to make that choice without possibly opening the city up to lawsuits,” a letter to the commission from search committee chair Ruth Hodges states. The letter was accompanied by a breakdown from City Finance Manager Cindy Dooley that detailed which parts of the city’s budget the $30,000 cost of hiring a search firm would come from.
Commissioner Bob Martin moved to table the vote for two meetings. He said some commissioners had been working on “quite a few issues” related to the hiring process but that they weren’t ready to “bring them to fruition yet.” Commissioner Stephen Turner quickly seconded the motion.
Commissioner Brodie Moll was surprised by his fellow commissioners' reluctance. He said he thought the commission should have aired any concerns at the March 6 search committee workshop.
“It sounds like somebody else has decided they want to do something else and we don’t have a say in it,” he said.
Martin countered that he wanted the city to consider other routes to hiring a city manager before making a decision. Commissioner Ian Donovan agreed with Martin. “I don’t think this is something we need to rush into,” Donovan said.
Moll asked what alternative hiring processes his fellow commissioners had in mind. Turner said he wanted to explore keeping Interim City Manager Wade Nash in the position permanently. Nash responded that he would not accept the position if it meant he had to give up his retirement funds. He encouraged the commission to look for candidates locally.
“There might be good people out there who can do it besides me that you need to look at before you go out and spend $30,000,” Nash said.
Later in the meeting Gayle Siemers, a member of the search committee, said no local candidates interested in the position had contacted the committee.
In response to concerns about the cost of hiring a search firm Moll said, “We’re spending a lot of money but maybe people should have thought a little more about that before you ran Mark (Shrives) off.” Both Martin and Turner were vocal about their disapproval of former city manager Mark Shrives’ performance in the October meeting that led to his departure.
Two members of the public said they wanted the commission to appoint a permanent city manager in a timely manner so that city business could return to usual. One community member said that she works for a business whose projects have been delayed by lack of support from the city. “We’ve been working on this for six months and virtually that whole time there’s been nobody in place to direct us or support us,” she said. Nash responded that he was working on the issue.
Others urged the city to hire a human resources professional to guide the city as it makes decisions about the hiring process to protect the city from legal mistakes.
“If we don’t do a lot of things right in the hiring process we’re going to spend a lot of money going to court for mishaps that have occurred because this thing hasn’t been done professionally,” Moll said. Moll was the only commissioner present who voted against tabling the vote.
