St. Ignatius Town Council appoints new judge, accepts resignation of police chief
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St. Ignatius Town Council members accepted the resignations of two employees at their August meeting and heard updates on the ongoing purchase of a building as well as submissions for grant proposals made possible through American Rescue Plan Act funds.
First on the agenda was the resignation of Judge Susan Richardson. Richardson submitted a letter of resignation at the July meeting, citing matters of family health that had caused her to move out of state. The council voted to replace Richardson by appointing Town Clerk Mary Leishman as the judge’s replacement. Leishman has been trained as a substitute. The council voted to pay her Richardson’s salary.
The council also voted to approve the resignation of Police Chief Matt Connelly. Connelly has been police chief since 2015 and was the first stable appointment hire after years of a revolving door of police officers. While the council did not elaborate more on why he resigned, at the past two council meetings there appeared to be a disconnect between some of Connelly’s requests and the council’s wishes.
In June, Connelly had questioned Mayor Steve McCollum’s presentation of employment contracts to staff members for the upcoming year. McCollum wanted employees to sign the contract, noting that there were not allowances made for salary increases or cost of living, and said that employees could try to make their case for pay increases during the annual budgeting time during August. McCollum presented the new contracts on the day the previous ones expired. He said that contracts are the best way to keep employees because if an employee didn’t want to re-sign the contract then the employer could advertise the job for a substantially lower rate, and if the employee wanted to re-apply, they could.
“It’s in your best interest, if you want to keep your job, sign it and get it back in, because these are binding,” McCollum said. “My thought is that if you don’t sign your contract, we aren’t obligated to pay.”
Connelly said he had issues with the part of the contract that prohibited side jobs. McCollum said that he would offer to re-write the contracts. Connelly also asked what happened if he reached the 2,080 hours listed in the contract. McCollum said that at his job he just donated his extra time, in a profanity-laced explanation.
“Man, f--- you,” McCollum said to Connelly. “I work 10 hours a day. I average 400 hours overtime a year ... I can say what I do. I love my job. I think I’m treated great up there. I would never want to go work anywhere else. If they wanted me to work 16 hours a day then I’d get up and do another 10 hour shift the next day, no problem, because I’m still working there. I would live up there if I had to protect that place and make it safe for everybody and make sure my job was done. That’s the way I feel. I’m a dedicated employee. I don’t ever b----- about my hours,” McCollum said.
McCollum said Connelly could not ask for overtime. “You will not come to us and say ‘I worked 20 hours of overtime in this pay period,” McCollum said. “You need to adjust your schedule where you are comfortable with it. That’s why you are salary.”
Connelly pointed out that his job required him to be on call even in the middle of the night. “That doesn’t benefit me any,” Connelly said of working overtime in the middle of the night.
Council member Ray Frey disagreed. “It benefits you in the sense that you’ve got a job,” Frey said.
Council member Daren Incashola voiced his dissent with the contracts McCollum presented. “I want to say, just for the record, I’m not comfortable with these contracts,” Incashola said. “I don’t think they are appropriate. These guys were hired as employees of the city and you just chained them to a contract. The way it was done, I don’t think it was right.”
McCollum said he wasn’t trying to give employees the short end of the stick. “We’re not out to screw anybody and that’s what everybody keeps throwing at me, like you’re getting boned,” McCollum said. “You’re not. You’re actually better off than you were but we’re better off because we’re not paying damn overtime.”
At the July council meeting Connelly inquired if the requirement for officers living within 10 miles of city limits could be removed as costs of housing were rising and it was getting difficult to find an affordable place within that distance. The council did not give a definitive answer.
In other August business, City Works Director Scott Morton said he had worked with a pro-bono grant writer to try to secure funds through the American Rescue Act for town projects but had only a small hope they would come through.
The council said they had not yet drawn up rental agreements for a mixed use business/residential property that they were buying. The property currently houses the food bank.
