FAIRMONT– With no city administrator and no interim in place, the Fairmont City Council considered the leadership structure for the foreseeable future at its Monday meeting.

City Clerk Betsy Steuber provided both some background and some options, which were provided by legal counsel, to the council.

She said that the interim city administrator position has been vacant since Nov. 23 when Jeff O’Neill left and no temporary interim was identified at his time of departure.

“To ensure continuity of operations and compliance with the Charter, council is asked to define administrative leadership until an interim or permanent city administrator is appointed,” Steuber said.

Two options were drafted. One was shared leadership among department directors with the mayor serving as the point of contact for council questions outside of meetings. The other option was to appoint a city employee to serve as acting city administrator.

Steuber said either option would expire once the council appoints an interim or permanent city administrator.

Council Member Jay Maynard asked whether there was a city employee who was willing to take on the responsibility and Steuber confirmed that no one has indicated interest.

“That pretty much says option one it is,” Maynard said.

Council Member Randy Lubenow asked what other cities do in this situation. He suggested that the City Clerk might do it.

David Assaf, an attorney with Flaherty and Hood, provided some input.

“Most cities do appoint an acting city administrator so option two is more typical in this situation,” Assaf said.

Mayor Lee Baarts asked if there were any names of employees who would be interested. Maynard said he was in favor of adopting option one. However, Lubenow pointed out that Finance Director Paul Hoye is the senior staff member and asked if he was interested in being acting city administrator.

Hoye acknowledged that he was put on the spot and wasn’t expecting the question.

“I think at this point I would respectfully decline,” Hoye said.

Council Member Britney Kawecki said if they go with option one, she would like to see a two week ahead look at what’s going on from each department head, as well as a two week recap.

“I think that that’s appropriate, beings as we all know what the Charter states. The city council is in charge of the administrator, the administrator is in charge of the council and we don’t have one right now (administrator),” Kawecki said.

She spoke out some verbiage in the resolution about some temporary authority that will be given at this time regarding hiring and firing of employees.

“I think before any type of employee is hired or fired, it needs to come to the city council because we don’t have a city administrator and the staff is not in charge,” Kawecki said.

She added that there needs to be some kind of system in place to oversee the staff members. Maynard pointed out that the Charter is very specific and explicit in that the council should not have any role in hiring or firing employees.

Kawecki again reiterated that there is no city administrator in place right now and she wants to hear concerns from department heads regarding hiring and firing so that council can give its opinion. Maynard seemed okay with that suggestion.

Lubenow chimed in and said that the Human Resources Director is already involved in the hiring and firing process and that they could be involved in some way, too.

“Currently it goes through the city administrator, so if you, Randy, want for it to come through the Human Resources Director, I’m perfectly fine with that, but I still, I just don’t think… that we should see on the city’s website all of a sudden that we’re hiring for a position. That’s my concern,” Kawecki said.

Assaf provided some guidance on how to amend the language in the resolution. Kawecki read it with the addition that department heads will provide a two week look ahead as well as a two week recap on what’s happening in their departments.

Public Works Director Matthew York asked for some clarification on what the council is wanting to see from the department heads. He asked whether the council wants to see what the department heads are working on, or what their departments are working on.

“It’s what you’re working on,” Kawecki said.

York said, “I don’t want to say, ‘the next two weeks, we’re flushing fire hydrants,’ because that’s not what I’m doing, but that’s what my department is doing. I just want to make sure that everybody is on the same page,” York said.

Kawecki said she just wants to know the important stuff.

The amended option passed 3-2 with Council Members Wayne Hasek and Jay Maynard opposed.

Looking at the resolution as a whole, some of the verbiage was also discussed surrounding the temporary authority to hire and fire.

York asked for a legal opinion on suspending or firing an employe and whether that could be discussed in an open meeting.

Assaf said that individual issues will need to be addressed with the HR manager or the city attorney.

Finance Director Paul Hoye also had a question. He pointed out that department directors currently have the authority to hire and fire employees without a city administrator. He asked whether this this was just for positions that would need a decision from a city administrator.

Captain Mike Beletti, who is serving as chief in the interim, also threw out a question. He said they are hiring for a few positions right now and are on track to proceed this week. He asked if the department is still okay to promote internally.

Assaf said from what he understand the department directors do have authority to move forward with that.

Kawecki interjected and explained why she feels likes it’s important that the council is aware of what departments are hiring for positions, based on a recent incident where there was confusion on the positing for a position.

Baarts called for an update on the changes to the resolution. Assaf said that until an interim or permanent city administrator is appointed, each department leader shall have the authority to appoint, suspend of remove any city employee or administrative officer in their respective department, except where such process is otherwise provided for by law and due process, the City Charter or personnel policies adopted pursuant to the City Charter Prior to any such recommendation, staff shall bring the recommendation to council on a case by case basis.

Lubenow seconded the motion, which was made by Kawecki. In a roll call vote, the motion failed 3-2 with council members Hasek, Kotewa and Maynard opposed.

Assaf then made a recommendation to amend the motion to clarify that the authority to appoint, suspend or remove any employee would fall to the department leaders. Lubenow said he would like to see added that this would be for a budgeted position.

The motion unanimously passed.