MONROE — Discussion of how to proceed with filling the Supervisor of Parks and Urban Forestry position became contentious Dec. 11 between the four members of the city Salary and Personnel Committee.

Committee chair Brooke Bauman said a final decision had been made previously and the group should proceed with recommending the final candidate to Monroe Common Council. Fellow council member Michael Boyce, who was not present during the closed session decision in late August, disagreed.

“This is that sort of decision the full council should have a seat at the table in deciding who the best candidate is,” Boyce said.

The item was placed on the committee’s agenda by Mayor Louis Armstrong. Bauman said Friday the mayor had not known the final candidate was chosen before the budget process began. City Administrator Phil Rath had initially drafted a budget meant to exclude the expense of employing a full-time parks supervisor and forestry director, instead planning to split the duties between two assistant positions filled by current city employees.

Rallying by members of the public who attended the council sessions to call for the funding to be included for a parks supervisor in 2019 persuaded council members to direct Rath to identify a funding source for the position, eliminating another employee by cancelling a contract, cutting back on costs for safety equipment and reducing the cost-of-living increases as well as the advancement wage increases for city employees.

Boyce called for the city nepotism policy to be considered. The policy calls for no family member or spouse of other employees to be hired unless given authorization by the personnel committee. Bauman contends that by advancing the final candidate, Josh Trame, son-in-law of Recreation Director Marge Klinzing and former Supervisor of Parks and Urban Forestry Paul Klinzing, the committee has given authorization as specified by the policy.

Boyce said there was little transparency in the hiring process, which took place in closed session meetings and pointed to the fact that even he did not know who the final candidate was after Trame was chosen because of his absence for the proceeding.

Alderman Jeff Newcomer, who also serves on the committee, called for the city to fill the position quickly since “it’s already been an embarrassment to the city.” Alderman Richard Thoman expressed concern for nepotism, but also said he felt the candidate was the best choice. Newcomer and Bauman both said they hoped the public trusted them as elected officials to choose the best candidate for the job, even behind closed doors.

“It’s not our fault you weren’t at the meeting where the choice was made,” Newcomer said to Boyce at the meeting, noting that restarting the hiring process was unnecessary because the choice had already been made. Committee members agreed the qualifications for the position had not changed.

“I just see starting this over as a huge delay,” Bauman said.

They did not plan to do so today. The committee organized its Monday agenda to include recommendations for Trame to fill the position and his salary. Full council plans to consider approval of both items at its meeting at 6:30 p.m.

On Dec. 14, Bauman and Boyce agreed on one thing: nepotism will happen in a small city like Monroe.

However, both aldermen contrasted greatly in how to address it. Boyce said Friday he would prefer to see a nepotism policy which allows no exceptions. He noted that if Trame were to be hired, the city would not be able to conduct any restructuring in the departments because Trame and Marge Klinzing cannot oversee any aspects of the other’s job.

Bauman said the policy exists to protect employees despite the inevitability of relatives working for the city.

“It’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s always going to be a problem when you’re in a small city.”

Bauman added that the policy helps avoid conflicts of interest and protects not only the city, but also its employees.

Boyce said Paul Klinzing, who died in March, had always planned to have Trame fill the position because Paul had never trained any other city employee to fill his spot, even though Paul was planning to retire in a few years. He added that those eager to see a parks supervisor position remain with the city were simply calling for the job to stay in order to ensure Trame was given the spot. He noted comments from residents have reflected on the idea of favoritism as “upsetting.”

“I think once his name is released, they will think there was favoritism,” Boyce said.

He added that he believes the restructuring of supervisory duties in the parks department as proposed originally by Rath would have allowed the parks to “thrive.”

Boyce said the city should have begun the hiring process by revealing that within the candidate pool, there was someone who would fall under the nepotism policy. That way, he said, the public would have been properly informed.