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City council requests review

FAIRMONT — At the start of the Fairmont City Council meeting on Monday evening, council member Britney Kawecki asked to add discussion of an employee’s staff performance to the agenda.

City Attorney Mark Rahrick, who was on speaker phone, said that if the council were to go into closed session for the discussion, that tells him it’s a performance evaluation which means everyone needs prior notice of what would be discussed and he said it should be held at a different meeting.

Mayor Deb Foster told Kawecki she assumes the discussion is about the city administrator — Cathy Reynolds — since it’s the only position they have authority over. Foster asked Kawecki to share why she wants to schedule a performance evaluation.

“I think I can share it, but legally I shouldn’t share it. I think Mark would advise me not to share it,” said Kawecki.

“Last time that we went through this with our last city administrator, there was some email exchanges with the city attorney by certain council members but not all council members had any information as far as the dialogue between the council member asking the city attorney for any information regarding the city administrator,” Foster said.

She said since then they’ve made a policy that if a council member or the mayor contacted the city attorney asking for an evaluation process that email, along with the city council and city attorneys response, needs to be shared with all council members.

Rahrick said that he can forward the emails to the rest of the council members.

Foster asked Kawecki what her motion is.

“I had sent an email asking if I could send out an email to all the council individually and it was denied. Even though it was sent individually. I was going to share information that way but I couldn’t do that,” Kawecki said.

She said she wanted to have a discussion to go over concerns she felt like the council should be aware of. Foster said they need to give the city attorney notice that a discussion would take place during closed session.

Rahrick said, “If there’s going to be any discussion which I would describe as a performance evaluation which could lead to any kind of discipline, we would follow procedure where we provide the employee with a written notice of the concern to give them adequate opportunity to respond.”

Foster asked how they let the city administrator know what the concerns are if they can’t talk about it.

Rahrick said if there are council members with specific concerns, they should communicate them with him so that a draft of a notice can be put together which will be shared with the employee and all council members.

He said that three days notice would need to be given and that council members need to be available.

Kawecki made a motion that she would like to schedule a closed session special meeting for a performance evaluation for the city administrator this coming Thursday.

Randy Lubenow seconded the motion.

Rahrick said there are two parts to the motion. One is to hold it and the second is to schedule the date. Foster said she wants the city attorney to be in attendance at the meeting and Rahrick said he’s unavailable on Thursday.

Lubenow made a motion to have the performance evaluation in closed session at the next council meeting on Oct. 11. Council members Kawecki, Michele Miller and Wayne Hasek voted yes, Bruce Peters voted no and the motion passed.

During staff/liaison reports, Reynolds said since the Charter Commission was reinstated in June of 2020, seven of the 15 members have resigned. She said there’s currently one alternate left on the list and two vacancies to be filled so they need to start accepting applications for the Charter Commission.

“Following along Charter Commission, at the last meeting, the rumor that I’m intending to leave in two years was brought up at the Charter Commission. I want to clarify that for council and the public that I did not take the job with the intention of leaving in two years. That is a rumor that someone started and is spreading around the community,” Reynolds said.

Earlier in the meeting during the public discussion period, Hasek said he’s disappointed in what he’s heard was discussed at the last meeting.

“It appears to me our Charter Commission has gone off task. It sounds like they’re taking aim at our Mayor and City Administrator,” he said. “Some of these people have been going after city people for a long time.”

Hasek asked if anyone know why members of the Charter Commission are quitting.

“We’ve received a letter from two of them with their explanation and I think there’s a common denominator certainly with the ones that have contacted me,” said Foster.

Foster said if there are people who want to work on what the best interest of the city is, they should go on the city’s website and apply to be on the Charter Commission.

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