Council Shirks Another Responsibility
The Council meeting on the 9th reminded me of two items I have been preaching about for over a year. The subject of this posting is the continued lack of oversight by the Council on municipal operations.
Section 3.10 of the Charter says, “The Council shall deal with the administrative service solely and directly through the City Manager, and neither the Council, its members, nor committees shall either dictate the appointment or direct or interfere with the work of any officer or employee under the City Manager.” In deciding what constitutes “interference”, the City Attorney again told the members Thursday night that they are the interpreters of the limitation.
For many, many years Northglenn Councils have been in a world of their own by following an extremely lassie-faire interpretation of their oversight responsibilities. From last meeting’s audio here are two quotes by the same person, Mayor Novak.
;
“When we approve a budget that has a dollar amount and we tell our staff what it is we want them to accomplish within that dollar amount and beyond that it is up to the city manager to see that the goals are accomplished and that we are within budget.” “We appropriate money to accomplish tasks and ask the staff to accomplish those within a given budget.”
The Mayor and her followers on the Council have taken the position that they provide the money in total and the Manager has the authority to use it throughout the year as he deems best. As a career-retired city manager, I assure you that our Council is way off track and I challenge them to seek professional advice from other Councils and their Managers.
The quote came during a discussion on the creation and filling of additional positions before our new manager, AJ, arrives. The minority of the Council wanted the present staff to hold off knowing that if AJ felt that some staff increases were not needed, his hands would be tied because it is unprofessional and cruel to lay off newly hired employees.
Here are the details of the new staffing discussion. In November of last year the staff proposed in the budget and the Council approved a full-time staff of 215 employees for 2006. With two interim managers at the controls since February, the Council was asked to approve six additional employees during this year. So, what actually happened? The staff increased itself to 242 full-time employees without the Council’s knowledge. What were the Mayor and her friends’ reaction? Listen to the third audio from the meeting. It was, “so what”.
What kind of bucks are we talking about? Out of a $56 million dollar budget only $28 million goes for day-to-day operations. According to the Mayor and friends, as long as the City Manager achieves their goals, he is entitled to use the $28 million anyway he deems fit. For good or bad we have a staff responsible to no one thanks to the majority of the present members of the Council.
Section 3.10 of the Charter says, “The Council shall deal with the administrative service solely and directly through the City Manager, and neither the Council, its members, nor committees shall either dictate the appointment or direct or interfere with the work of any officer or employee under the City Manager.” In deciding what constitutes “interference”, the City Attorney again told the members Thursday night that they are the interpreters of the limitation.
For many, many years Northglenn Councils have been in a world of their own by following an extremely lassie-faire interpretation of their oversight responsibilities. From last meeting’s audio here are two quotes by the same person, Mayor Novak.
;
“When we approve a budget that has a dollar amount and we tell our staff what it is we want them to accomplish within that dollar amount and beyond that it is up to the city manager to see that the goals are accomplished and that we are within budget.” “We appropriate money to accomplish tasks and ask the staff to accomplish those within a given budget.”
The Mayor and her followers on the Council have taken the position that they provide the money in total and the Manager has the authority to use it throughout the year as he deems best. As a career-retired city manager, I assure you that our Council is way off track and I challenge them to seek professional advice from other Councils and their Managers.
The quote came during a discussion on the creation and filling of additional positions before our new manager, AJ, arrives. The minority of the Council wanted the present staff to hold off knowing that if AJ felt that some staff increases were not needed, his hands would be tied because it is unprofessional and cruel to lay off newly hired employees.
Here are the details of the new staffing discussion. In November of last year the staff proposed in the budget and the Council approved a full-time staff of 215 employees for 2006. With two interim managers at the controls since February, the Council was asked to approve six additional employees during this year. So, what actually happened? The staff increased itself to 242 full-time employees without the Council’s knowledge. What were the Mayor and her friends’ reaction? Listen to the third audio from the meeting. It was, “so what”.
What kind of bucks are we talking about? Out of a $56 million dollar budget only $28 million goes for day-to-day operations. According to the Mayor and friends, as long as the City Manager achieves their goals, he is entitled to use the $28 million anyway he deems fit. For good or bad we have a staff responsible to no one thanks to the majority of the present members of the Council.
posted by Gene Wieneke at
12:51 PM
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