Polk County itemizer observer., January 11, 2017, Page 7A, Image 7

Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 11, 2017 7A
Foggin: Planned to send letter to city council
Continued from Page 1A
He said the firm conduct-
ing the search for McMin-
nville made a request of ask-
ing for names of three cur-
rent supervisors instead of a
list of references. He gave
the firm contact information
for Mayor Brian Dalton,
Co u n c i l Pre s i d e n t Ji m
Fairchild and now-former
councilor LaVonne Wilson.
Foggin told them an email
requesting a review of his
performance would be com-
ing.
Dalton said he received
that email on Dec. 28, 2016,
and that was the first he had
heard Foggin was seeking
another job. He noted that
was well after the council
voted on extending Foggin’s
contract and granted him a
raise on Dec. 5.
Councilor Ken Woods Jr.
said, based on interactions
he’s had with other city
managers, it’s not unusual
for city managers to look for
other jobs every three to
seven years, he said. Woods
added the practice is for city
managers to notify their cur-
rent employers only when
there’s a good possibility of
them getting another job.
“Typically, a city manager
would inform his or her
council once he knows he’s a
finalist,” Woods said.
Feeling as though critical
information was withheld
from them, councilors Jackie
Lawson, Micky Garus and
Paul Trahan requested Mon-
day’s special meeting to dis-
cuss the situation and how
similar circumstances can
be dealt with in the future.
“We are disappointed to
find out how we found out,”
Lawson said. “I want to
make perfectly clear that we
have no issues with Ron ap-
plying for a position some-
where else.”
She said that knowing
Ron had applied for a job
somewhere else may have
had some bearing on deci-
sions the council made. She
added that she is concerned
about what else may being
withheld from the council
and suggested the council
act to prevent that.
Garus read a statement
directed at Dalton, saying he
wasn’t sure how long he
knew of Foggin’s candidacy
for another job, but should
have told the council when
he found out.
“Information of that na-
ture, at the very least out of
p r o f e s s i o n a l c o u r t e s y,
should be disclosed,” he
said.
Lawson proposed in a
motion a new council rule
that read, “When extremely
important, concrete infor-
mation comes to a council
member, it is discussed —
anything that could have an
impact on what we decide
as a council.”
Councilor Kelly Gabliks
said she was satisfied with
Foggin’s explanation, and
that Dalton and two other
councilors were asked for
references didn’t bother her.
She said that the council
didn’t need further rules to
address similar situations in
the future.
“I don’t think we need a
rule that if a city manager or
any agency head applies for
a job they need to immedi-
ately notify the council,”
Gabliks said. “I don’t want to
see us adopt a rule like
that.”
Trahan said many of his
questions were answered by
Foggin’s explanation, and
said he wasn’t sure how such
a rule could be enforced as
worded.
“I’d like to think about
this for a little while because
I think it’s ambiguous right
now,” he said.
Trahan suggested the
council hold off on voting to
refine a new rule proposal.
Foggin suggested that the
city’s Administration Com-
mittee evaluate current
council rules and determine
if other cities have similar
rules Dallas could incorpo-
rate.
Lawson agreed to with-
draw her motion on the
condition that “we aren’t just
burying this in committee.”
The McMinnville City
Council is slated to inter-
view its finalists this week
and narrow down the field
to one. That candidate will
go through background
checks, psychological evalu-
ations and a current job-site
visit.
Candace Haines, the in-
terim McMinnville city
manager, said a final deci-
sion wouldn’t be made for a
few weeks.
Snow: Schools must meet state law County: Bond up
Continued from Page 1A
“Yes, it does give our stu-
dents another contact day,
so we might consider that
down the road, but it does
not change our number of
instructional days,” Mar-
tinelli said.
Calling a snow day isn’t
an exact science, but the
goal is clear for all districts:
Getting students to school
and back home safely, in-
cluding those who walk,
drive themselves or are de-
livered by their parents.
Brazeau said he’s up at 3
a.m. the day before a possi-
ble snow day checking
three different weather re-
ports, talking to trans-
portation managers and
other school superintend-
ents in the area.
Martinelli’s alarm goes off
at the same time. He said he
and Dallas’ bus company’s
manager spend the wee
hours of the morning driv-
ing the roads. When he
makes a recommendation
for a delayed start or can-
celed day, Martinelli said it’s
only safety on his mind.
“A couple things that I
don’t ever consider are in-
structional hours, and I also
don’t consider Facebook
to $10 million
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Snow fell all day on Saturday, occasionally mixed with sleet and freezing rain.
comments,” he said. “It
doesn’t matter what I do I’m
wrong — we’re wrong.”
Brazeau can relate. He
said one day he called a
snow day and the snow did-
n’t materialize until about
9:30 a.m., well after the
school day would have
started.
“People were chuckling at
me until the snow hit,” he
said.
School officials say noth-
ing is certain dealing with
fickle weather, so they have
to give it their best guess.
“We are trying to make
the best decision we can
with the information we
have, but weather changes,”
Brazeau said. “We make
mistakes, but not because
we are trying to.”
Continued from Page 2A
If the bond amount is $10
million over 10 years, the
cost would average about 20
cents per $1,000 of assessed
value on properties. Taxpay-
ers finished paying off the
county’s road bond this year,
which amounted to 51 cents
per $1,000 assessed value.
Hansen noted the com-
missioners should keep in
mind that property owners
are also paying for the public
safety operating levy at
about 30 cents per $1,000.
His said recommendation of
a $10 million bond was an
effort to keep property taxes
below current taxes.
Commissioner Craig Pope
said he would be more com-
fortable with asking for $9
million, based on the facilities
study conducted last year.
“Somewhere between
your estimate and the archi-
tectural report is the number
we are going to fall on,” Pope
said. “We end up at a $9-mil-
lion bond range, following
the report and still having
some buffer room.”
Hansen said costs on the
project estimates could have
gone up in the last year and
would continue to rise be-
tween now and when work
could start.
“I concur completely that
we should not even look at
anything above $10 million,
and I would hesitate to go
anywhere below $8.5 mil-
lion,” Hansen said. “Any-
where in that range, you are
going to get a lot done and
you are going to make a lot
of needed improvements.”
In other business, the
county will:
• Hold its annual Compen-
sation Committee meeting
on Jan. 18 at 10 a.m. The
committee, consisting of the
three non-elected members
of the budget committee,
makes a recommendation on
elected official salaries.
Elected officials are paid
(per month): County com-
missioner — $6,179; assessor
— $6,804; clerk — $6,526;
sheriff — $8,436; treasurer —
$6,850; district attorney —
paid by the state and receives
no supplemental income
from the county.
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