Hoping for a change

To the Editor:

I find it difficult to believe a city the size of Fairmont does not have a separate human resources department. In fact, I feel this is unacceptable and foolhardy. An HR department is a necessity not a luxury. The City Attorney should not have been required to serve in this capacity and mitigate employee issues. It was a poor use of her time and expertise.

This has been a mess from start to finish. The two “maverick” council members acted unethically in approaching the City Attorney before the council even had a chance to research the subject or look at the financial implications. This was not transparent to the mayor or other council members, let alone the public which you represent.

Do you honestly think that by removing the City Attorney and contracting out for these services Fairmont will save money? What experts are you talking to? Do you expect another attorney to take on the HR responsibilities that Libby had? I would sure like to know your cost vs. benefit analysis on this. Of course, that was never made clear.

City employees deserve the support of a fully functioning HR department. I sincerely hope this will be rectified soon.

Now that your constituents have a sense of how you operate, it’s my hope we will see a change in representation at the next City Council election.

Ramona Harper

Fairmont