Aldermen on the city's Salary and Personnel Committee are right to want to take it slow in its search for the next city administrator.
Chief among the reasons are that taking time gives the Monroe City Council a chance to better define what it is it wants an administrator to do - assuming aldermen think it's necessary to continue having a full-time city administrator.
It also allows the council time to determine whether to remove from the administrator position the city's human resources (HR) function. The decision to roll that work into the job was questionable when the council did it two years ago. The council's termination of City Administrator Mark Vahlsing's employment last week because he was failing at some of his HR responsibilities may point to the need to funnel that work to another position.
And Mayor Ron Marsh added further fodder for delaying a decision when he suggested the council take the opportunity to reassess the city's leadership structure. Marsh said the city should consider all of its options, which he seemed to say includes the possibility of going to a city manager form of government without a mayor.
"Right now is a good time for the City Council to determine what route they want to go," Marsh said.
Marsh is right. Vahlsing's termination, as messy and unwelcome as it is at City Hall, does give the council an opportunity to assess its decision of a couple years ago. It should take advantage of that opportunity.
Our opinion is that Monroe is large enough, and has enough economic development aspirations and challenges, to warrant a professional running city government. A part-time mayor's capabilities to navigate those complex waters will vary from election to election. Having a city manager or administrator at least guarantees the city will have someone in a leadership position who has the proper background and training.
If the council opts to continue forward with the city administrator and part-time mayor form of government, it would be wise to better define the leadership hierarchy and responsibilities. When the council moved in this direction in 2006, the intention seemed to be for the administrator to act as the city's CEO. The mayor, in a part-time position, would act more as a community cheerleader and as the liaison between city government and the electorate.
The first two years of a city administrator form of government in Monroe haven't exactly followed that form. Marsh vowed to be an active mayor when he campaigned and won as a write-in in 2006 and has made good on his promise. By all appearances, he runs city government, not the administrator. Vahlsing tended to work behind the scenes, the results of his work largely unseen by the public.
Perhaps that's the way the city council likes it. Again, this break gives aldermen an opportunity to discuss it, and make any changes they deem appropriate.
In that process, it is important for the council to consider the positions, and not the personalities. Decisions cannot be made based on how aldermen feel about the current mayor, or the former administrator. As difficult as it is to separate the personalities from the positions, that is exactly what the council must do.
One other note. The council seems ready to move ahead with the hiring firm it used in its first search. On Tuesday, the committee set in motion a process to have the firm, Public Administration Associates, advise the city on what type of candidate it would need for the administrator position.
This advice certainly will have some value. But the council, through its two years of experience with the new form of government, should have its own ideas on what it is looking for. Aldermen should trust their own insights first.
Chief among the reasons are that taking time gives the Monroe City Council a chance to better define what it is it wants an administrator to do - assuming aldermen think it's necessary to continue having a full-time city administrator.
It also allows the council time to determine whether to remove from the administrator position the city's human resources (HR) function. The decision to roll that work into the job was questionable when the council did it two years ago. The council's termination of City Administrator Mark Vahlsing's employment last week because he was failing at some of his HR responsibilities may point to the need to funnel that work to another position.
And Mayor Ron Marsh added further fodder for delaying a decision when he suggested the council take the opportunity to reassess the city's leadership structure. Marsh said the city should consider all of its options, which he seemed to say includes the possibility of going to a city manager form of government without a mayor.
"Right now is a good time for the City Council to determine what route they want to go," Marsh said.
Marsh is right. Vahlsing's termination, as messy and unwelcome as it is at City Hall, does give the council an opportunity to assess its decision of a couple years ago. It should take advantage of that opportunity.
Our opinion is that Monroe is large enough, and has enough economic development aspirations and challenges, to warrant a professional running city government. A part-time mayor's capabilities to navigate those complex waters will vary from election to election. Having a city manager or administrator at least guarantees the city will have someone in a leadership position who has the proper background and training.
If the council opts to continue forward with the city administrator and part-time mayor form of government, it would be wise to better define the leadership hierarchy and responsibilities. When the council moved in this direction in 2006, the intention seemed to be for the administrator to act as the city's CEO. The mayor, in a part-time position, would act more as a community cheerleader and as the liaison between city government and the electorate.
The first two years of a city administrator form of government in Monroe haven't exactly followed that form. Marsh vowed to be an active mayor when he campaigned and won as a write-in in 2006 and has made good on his promise. By all appearances, he runs city government, not the administrator. Vahlsing tended to work behind the scenes, the results of his work largely unseen by the public.
Perhaps that's the way the city council likes it. Again, this break gives aldermen an opportunity to discuss it, and make any changes they deem appropriate.
In that process, it is important for the council to consider the positions, and not the personalities. Decisions cannot be made based on how aldermen feel about the current mayor, or the former administrator. As difficult as it is to separate the personalities from the positions, that is exactly what the council must do.
One other note. The council seems ready to move ahead with the hiring firm it used in its first search. On Tuesday, the committee set in motion a process to have the firm, Public Administration Associates, advise the city on what type of candidate it would need for the administrator position.
This advice certainly will have some value. But the council, through its two years of experience with the new form of government, should have its own ideas on what it is looking for. Aldermen should trust their own insights first.
