City manager talks go back to drawing board

Because council members involved in the process said last Tuesday during the Greenfield City Council meeting that they weren’t comfortable moving forward with either of two applicants they looked at for a city manager position for Greenfield they will likely be returning to the Greater Greenfield Community Foundation for further discussions.

The GGCF proposed the position to the council in late February, saying they would pay for it for a two-year term. Foundation members said in their initial proposal that the position being proposed is to provide additional, more focused insight and oversight to finding funding sources for the execution of long-term plans of Greenfield in the months and years following the tornado.

Foundation members have met with a steering committee since that first proposal that includes city council members Jeff Clayton and Rita Eble.

Clayton reported at last week’s meeting that one of the two applicants was very qualified but unwilling to move to the community. Between that and other background items of concern, he did not feel they were a good fit. While he said the other candidate would be an asset to the community, Clayton didn’t feel it’s fair to hire someone like them and call them a city manager or administrator. He said City Clerk Laura Benton is much more qualified than they are.

One option is for the city and foundation to work together in hiring the second candidate and redefining the job title or description, Clayton said.

“I don’t want to hire a city administrator or city manager who isn’t as qualified as Laura is. There are a lot of open areas where we could maybe hire somebody and this person would help,” Clayton said. “I’m concerned that for now, we’re not going to find somebody who is willing to move to Greenfield for two years [without a definite possibility of an extension beyond that]. The first person was very qualified, but I want someone who is in the community to represent. The second candidate is very motivated, but I feel Laura has way more qualifications and we can’t hire this person as a city manager or city administrator.”

Eble said one of the candidates has assets that would be hard to find in a small community, and they would be very dedicated to the community.

“I guess we’re saying we’re going to keep working,” Eble said. “We don’t have anything at this time. Not tonight.”

Councilman Brian Fox commended Clayton and Eble for the work they’ve done and said the council will be behind whatever they decide on the matter going forward.

Clayton clarified that the one candidate has qualifications almost identical to Benton’s and she is classified as a city clerk.

“I just don’t want to have somebody who comes in with less qualifications [than her] for city administration,” Clayton said. “If we can get to divide the work up in certain areas that are lacking and someone can spend more time on it, I think that would be a benefit.”

Eble said that if Benton wants to be city administrator instead of city clerk, that could be explored. Benton asked if it would come with a $20,000 pay increase. Eble said whoever is hired as a city manager or administrator wouldn’t make that much.

“We’re not at that end,” Eble said.

Benton said “it’s just a title” and that she would continue to do the same job she’s been doing, which is technically more of a city administrator’s job than a city clerk’s.

“It’s not going to change what I do,” Benton said. “Whoever my replacement is, maybe it would make a difference to them.”

Benton cautioned that the council and foundation need to keep in mind what an asset Greenfield Chamber Main Street Executive Director Stacie Eshelman is to the community.

“I know this position was going to be a lot of economic development, and I don’t think you can get better economic development than Stacie,” Benton said. “I would hate to have someone come on board and do what Stacie does because Stacie is phenomenal.”

Benton said maybe this is a good time to talk about how different entities that already work together could be meshed and work together more.

Benton also asked whether the GGCF would agree to paying for something other than exactly what they proposed if it meets the city’s needs. Clayton said that just takes continued communication going forward.

Eshelman said she thinks that the community sometimes lacks someone “pulling it all together.”

“I can do all I want, but if I can’t get the city to partner in that — and that really starts with this table — then I am doing a lot of work that’s not moving forward at all,” Eshelman said. “If we had that person who can put it all together...I definitely think there could be some conversations we could have.”

In other action, the council:

• awarded a bid to the Marion-based Acterra Group for work on a card reader at the airport

• rejected a request from Fontanelle for Greenfield Police Department to give law enforcement support to their community, but stated that if Greenfield officers want to work shifts on their down time in Fontanelle, they won’t stop them. Fontanelle uniforms and equipment must be used in these circumstances

• gave consensus for the building of a new hangar at the airport, with official approval to be given at a future meeting. Money from the Federal Aviation Administration, with matching funds from the Iowa Aviation Museum, would pay for the structure. The museum having management rights of it for 50 years. There would be no cost to the city