Article published Sep 16, 2007

Commission looks to select manager this year

By RICHARD ECKE

Tribune Staff Writer

Four city commissioners said last week that they have no plans to delay selection of a new city manager until a new City Commission is seated in January.

Meanwhile, several candidates for office in the Nov. 6 general election would prefer the commission not act until 2008.

One of the candidates said she won't criticize commissioners if they do pick a new manager this year.

"Legally, they can do it," said Mary Jolley, a commission candidate.

One of the first people to float the idea of a delay was Richard Liebert, a county resident who heads Citizens for Clean Energy, a group opposed to the proposed coal-fired Highwood Generating Station near Great Falls.

Current commissioners point out they have already set up a procedure to involve newly elected commissioners in selecting the manager.

Commissioners said any newly elected commission members can sit in on manager selection meetings and interviews later this fall. However, only current commissioners will be able to vote for a new manager if the selection happens before the year is out.

Commissioners elected in November will be sworn into office in early January. Three of the five commission seats are up for grabs this year, including the mayor.

"I like the process that we have going already," said Commissioner Sandy Hinz at an agenda meeting Wednesday. "I guess I don't feel that we need to delay it because of an election. If it doesn't happen (this year), so be it."

A consulting firm estimated that the new manager, who will replace retiring City Manager John Lawton, might be picked in December.

Mayor Dona Stebbins said commissioners would abdicate their duty if they delayed picking a city manager.

"We're the elected officials," Stebbins said last week. "To select the next city manager is our job." She added that the commission wants to pick a new manager before Lawton retires. He has said he wants to leave his post by the end of the year.

Stebbins said "there's always that possibility" that the selection won't happen until January or later because of logistics. However, current commissioners "want it done" before the end of the year, if that can be accomplished, to ensure a smooth transition, she said.

At Wednesday's meeting, Commissioners John Rosenbaum and Diane Jovick-Kuntz also said they are prepared to pick a new manager before January.

"It is not a political process," Jovick-Kuntz said. "It's our job."

Rosenbaum noted he has been elected to the City Commission three times, and Hinz twice.

"I was just offended that we wouldn't be qualified (to pick a new manager)," Rosenbaum said. Commissioner Bill Beecher is on vacation.

Liebert argued that the new commission should pick the new manager. At least one new commissioner will take office in January as Hinz is stepping down. Jovick-Kuntz and Stebbins are seeking re-election.

The commission's position drew several negative comments from other City Commission candidates later, along with a little support.

One supporter was commission candidate Elna Hensley, a former city employee, who said it's the job of the current commission to pick a new manager. She predicted the sitting commissioners "will be very open" to views of newly elected commissioners and would be "very inclusive."

Commission candidate Bill Bronson took a middle view, saying current commissioners "probably have a better feel for who might offer the best fit" as a manager. He added that commissioners definitely should wait to pick a manager until after the election, and the selection "could also involve waiting until the new folks are seated in January."

Two commission candidates criticized the current commission for telling the city's consultant that a new city manager should support the proposed coal-fired power plant. The city hopes to own a 15 percent share of the Highwood Generating Station.

Commission candidate Michael Winters said he would prefer a new manager to be "totally neutral" and "open to new ideas," and not have to bear "the heavy weight" of the power plant project.

"It looks to me like they're rushing the decision," Winters said.

Jolley called it "a ridiculous thing" to require the new manager to support the Highwood project. She said the notion that the city manager merely puts the commission's directives into action is "a joke."

Mayoral candidate Larry H. Steele said the commission should delay a selection until January. He noted that the new commission will have to work with the new manager.

Another candidate for mayor, Susan Kahn, said she would "absolutely" prefer that the commission wait until January or later to select a manager.

"It would let citizens have more of a say," Kahn said.

The fourth mayoral candidate, Ed McKnight, said the commission's determination to pick the new manager quickly is another reason the public has lost confidence in city officials. McKnight said that if he were elected mayor, "I would want to be the one that makes the selection."

Commissioner candidate Stuart Lewin could not be reached for comment.