Nelson Residents Riled Over New Position

Talk of a new city manager flustered Nelson citizens this week. During the September 4th city council meeting on Tuesday, newly elected council member Edith Portillo proposed to shift city clerk Brandy Edwards to a new city manger position. Explaining the move, Portillo said that Edwards would essentially perform the same duties she is performing now with only a few additional responsibilities.

“I thought it would be a good idea,”

Portillo said,

“since she has been running the city for eight years (as city clerk).”

She also went on to say that she personally feels the city would run more efficiently with Edwards as city manager.

Residents, however, did not see the need for the transition. Thad Thacker, running for mayor as a write-in, said he did not see the need for the change.

“I don’t think Nelson needs a city manager,”

he said. He went on to say that mayor and council are the ones who should have control, especially of spending, he said.

“I do not believe one person should have control of the money. It should be decided by five or six people,”

he added. Thacker also mentioned that Nelson previously had a city manager, saying that the manager almost ran the city into the ground (financially). The same manager, he said, then moved to near-by Ball Ground and

“almost bankrupted them.”

Another citizen wanted to know the difference between the city manager position and city clerk. He also asked if the pay for the city manager position would be different than that of clerk.

During budget hearings last month, Edwards’ pay scale was the topic of discussion. In the August meeting, council member Jackie Jarrett pushed for deeper cuts to the city clerk’s salary, which had previously been cut $2000, from $48,000 a year to $46,000. In a conversation with FYN this week, council member Jonathan Bishop said Edwards’ pay would not change if council approves the transition from clerk to manager. Bishop initially made the proposal back in February authoring an amendment to the charter, a copy of which was made available during this week’s meeting.

Portillo explained that council member Duane Cronic is in the process of creating a document outlining the duties of city manager in comparison to duties of the city clerk. Here, Bishop made an effort to ease some concerns. He first noted that council has the authority to delegate any duties of the mayor to the city manager it sees fit, including budgetary responsibilities. As such, any duties not delegated to the city manager belong to the mayor, as stated in the charter. Addressing citizens’ concerns regarding the manager’s authority to hire and fire staff at will, Bishop explained the council must still approve these actions. Additionally, he cleared up the claim that city manager has unchecked spending authority. Bishop emphasized that the city manager is bound by the same rules as other officials and staff members, saying that the manager can only spend up to $300 without council approval. Any purchase above this amount requires approval by the council. If Edwards were to move to the new position, Bishop said, the only additional duties she would have are the supervision of employees and the authority to make decisions without council approval only in emergency and certain situations. He explained that since most council members have full-time jobs, they cannot always be reached for decisions. This authority would allow Edwards to make more of the day-to-day decisions without council approval.

“It’s putting someone who’s here everyday,”

he said,

“in charge of day-to-day operations.”

He also noted Edwards is already the interim city manager, the duties of which were never defined by the previous council.

During the discussion, council member Duane Cronic expressed his dissatisfaction with Nelson’s current governmental structure.

“One of my big concerns with this form of government,”

he said,

“is that it gives us an opportunity and almost forces us to have one speak for five…I never like that part.”

In addition to this type of authority possibly given to the city manager, Cronic mentioned the area of responsibilities given to each council member. He said these responsibilities cause animosity and riffs because each person has at one time or another made unpopular decisions individually.

Later in the meeting, Bishop’s responsibility of personnel committee member was transferred to Portillo, which council passed unanimously.

Upon Portillo’s recommendation, council tabled the decision to move Edwards to city manager until the October meeting.