opinion
march8
2011
An Opinion: Choosing a City Administrator
is a Big Decision
By Scott Laird
At the February 22,
2011 Vernonia City Council
Meeting, three members of
the Council voted to begin
a search for new candidates
for the City Administrator
position currently being
filled by Interim Bill Haack.
(see story on front page).
The search process
will take a number of
months, and will probably
include Haack-- he has
said he intends to apply
for the position, meaning
Council could still hire
him. Council has elected
to retain the services of the
League of Oregon Cities
(LOC) to assist them, at
a cost of $6,000. What is
good about going through
a search process is it
allows Council to fully vet
all potential candidates,
including their current
City Administrator, and
honestly look the citizens
of their community in
the eye and say they hired
the best person available.
Some Council members
have expressed that they
feel they should trust a
search process.
In most normal
situations, and if Vernonia
were a normal city, I would
agree. Looking for the best
possible candidate would
make sense. But Vernonia
is not a normal city and ours
is not a normal situation.
Three factors should have
played a role in Council’s
decision:
1) Our high
recent turnover rate at the
City Administrator, and
other city staff positions
over the last few years.
We have had five City
Administrators in the last
three years and seven in
the last seven years. 2)
Our community suffered
a major natural disaster
three years ago and is in the
middle of a recovery effort.
3) As part of that recovery
effort, we have numerous
major projects involving
numerous
partnerships,
either currently under
construction or in the
planning stages.
My personal choice
for City Administrator
would have been to offer
Haack a one-year contract,
allowing him to continue
the work he currently has
going, and re-visit the
issue next year at this time
when this Council has more
experience. Most people I
have spoken with strongly
agree.
I could spend a
lot of time discussing why
retaining Haack and not
going through a search
process at this time would
have made sense: Haack
is smart, well-connected,
and competent.
He
understands
managing
grants, has shown an ability
to learn and comprehend
the nuances of city
government, and is familiar
with
the
complicated
Vernonia landscape. He is
well respected on a county,
state and federal level as
well as locally by the City’s
partners and
engaged
citizens. His staff, with
whom he works on a daily
basis, support him. He is a
known entity— his skill-set,
strengths, and weaknesses
are well-known. He wants
to be here and is willing to
accept a full-time position
at a reduced wage. For me,
he is exactly what we need
right now.
But Council, at
least three of the members,
has chosen to go a different
route— the LOC was
scheduled to attend a
workshop on Monday,
March 7 th and officially
begin the search process.
So, as Council
begins looking at candidates
and considering changing
their City Administrator
again, the following are
some key issues they need
to consider.
Full Time or
Part Time?-- As Council
debated whether to begin a
search, one of the key issues
discussed was whether they
could afford a full-time
employee or whether they
needed to look for someone
who would work part time.
The job is too big to be
done by someone part-time.
They have to find room in
the budget for a full-time
City Administrator. End of
story.
Administrator
Experience vs. Vernonia
Experience—
Ideally,
the
Council,
through
its search process, will
identify several qualified
candidates.
Bill Haack
has never worked as a
City Administrator before;
it will be tempting for
Council to consider hiring
someone who has worked
elsewhere in this capacity.
What they then need to
weigh is the advantages of
hiring someone with City
Administrator experience
against hiring someone
familiar with Vernonia and
its current issues, problems
and projects. This, to me,
is the key issue. Haack’s
familiarity with Vernonia is
a huge advantage and must
be strongly considered.
Voters
Wanted
Change—
When
Vernonians voted to replace
three members of Council,
I said it was clear that
Vernonians wanted change.
To me, that change must
come in the form of stability,
consistency and continuity
at City Hall. In the last
year, Vernonia has seen
a City Administrator, a
Police Chief, their Legal
Council
and
Public
Works
Director
all
resign. We continue to
lose collective memory
every time we replace
key department heads
and staff. Projects suffer
when we don’t have
consistent
leadership
inside City Hall. Rita
Mae Brown in her book
Sudden
Death
said
“Insanity is doing the
same thing over and
over again but expecting
different results.” We
need to stop this insanity.
Trust
the
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Process— All three City
Councilors who voted to
start a search process said
they felt they needed to go
through and trust a search
process. Two years ago, we
went through and trusted a
similar search process. In
their first round, Council
selected a candidate they
liked and offered him
the position at a $75,000
salary.
The candidate
returned with a counter-
offer--a much higher salary
and a huge buyout clause.
Council rejected that offer
and started all over again.
That’s what happened when
we trusted the process.
The second search brought
us Bob Young, who, after
less than one year, resigned
in disgrace. That’s what
happened when we trusted
the process.
We later
learned that Young had
had similar problems at
his previous city--that had
not been uncovered during
his interviews and hiring.
That’s what happened when
we trusted the process.
Hiring someone new is a
crapshoot. We know who
Bill Haack is.
The Interview and
Selection Process— Since
they have chosen to begin
a search process, who will
be involved? The last time
three panels were used-- a
3
Publisher and Managing Editor
Scott Laird
503-367-0098
scott@vernoniasvoice.com
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continued on page 15
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