The Crossville city council agreed to
put off hiring a new city manager until after the dust has cleared
from the city election in November.
In addition to the council seats of
Pete Souza and Jesse Kerley being up for election, it looks like a
strong possibility that the recall votes for Danny Wyatt and Pam
Harris will also take place on the November ballot.
Mr. Souza stated that since 2007 the
city has had ten managers and interim managers. “We have a toxic
city council. That's a fact. We need to wait. I don't think we could
get anybody right now, that's any good as a professional manager that
would even come here.”
While preliminary work on recruiting
and vetting potential city manager candidates is expected to take
place prior to the election, the final decision on who will become
city manager will wait until new members, if any, are sworn in.
The council agreed to move forward
using the UT Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) to provide
the recruiting service at no cost to the city. Crossville mayor
James Mayberry said that MTAS had recommended, and he agreed, that
the final selection should be delayed until after the election.
Mayor Mayberry moved to let MTAS begin
the process and to put off hiring until after the election and
councilman Pete Souza supported the motion.
Councilman Jesse Kerley asked city
attorney Will Ridely about the legality of putting off hiring a
manager. Ridely responded that the motion was fine, but there was
nothing stopping another council member from making a motion to hire
a manager in the future before the date set in the motion.
The motion was approved unanimously by
the council.
Council also approved an employment
contract with interim city manager Steve Hill. Hill is to be paid
$75,000 annual salary plus benefits offered to other city employees
while he serves in the position.
The contract was approved with
councilman Souza opposed. Souza felt that the agreement in place
when Hill was originally appointed should not be changed.
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