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Idea of village administrator raised again
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - August 11, 2010)
Idea of village administrator raised again
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
In January 2008, Burton officials broached the subject of eliminating the village's board of public affairs and hiring a village administrator to take over the board's work.
The proposed switch was in response to a water-main break that some Village Council members and Mayor Thomas Blair Sr. indicated could have been better handled by a village administrator.
The idea didn't took root, but Councilman Jeff Coleman brought it back before council Monday, when it was looking to fill a vacancy on the board of public affairs. He asked that council not fill the vacancy on the three-member board. Instead, he asked that members take up an ordinance next month to eliminate the board and create the village administrator position.
Mr. Blair said creating that position would "change the way things are done," adding that many villages have made the switch and benefited from it. All village employees would be under the direction of the administrator, he said.
Not all members of council were ready to jump at the idea.
Councilman Gerald Rouge said it is a "rather serious change" that merits more discussion. He said village officials have not even discussed whether they have the money to hire an administrator.
Mr. Coleman said he spoke with Middlefield Mayor Bill Poole about that village's change from a board of public affairs. He said Mr. Poole told him that it was the "smartest thing" that village ever did.
He said it could be a full- or part-time position and that salaries could range "all over the board." He said, "It doesn't have to be a five-day-a-week, eight-hours-a-day type of thing."
Mr. Coleman said the money could be found by eliminating one of two workers at the village's sewage-treatment plant. He said it doesn't make sense for the village to have two people there collecting paychecks, when the state only mandates that the village have one worker for that size of plant. He said eliminating that position would provide "plenty" of money for an administrator's salary.
"We can certainly figure it out. It's not rocket science," he said.
Mr. Coleman said the village administrator could enable the village to bring all its service departments under the authority of one person. The street, water and sewer workers could be cross trained to do jobs in other departments, making for a more efficient operation, he said. "It would make this village operate more cohesively, as one."
He said council should begin discussion next month and act on it as soon as possible.
J. Jaredd Flynn, acting village solicitor, said council should act on filling the vacancy first, because there could be procedural problems with only two members of the existing board of public affairs voting on issues. He said council could take one, two or five months to resolve the administrator question while the board would be operating with two members.
Councilwoman Linda Swaney said she agrees with Mr. Rouge on the issue. She said council should first get the facts and figures needed to do due diligence and be comfortable with its decision. She said she wants to know what the costs will be and how it will affect the structure of the various departments.
Councilman Charles Hauser agreed, saying he wants to be sure that making a switch would be the most cost-effective way of operating the village. He said he could almost guarantee that residents of the village would bring a referendum petition to take the issue to the ballot if the switch was made.
Council adjourned into executive session following the discussion to name Judith Beaumier as the new member of the board of public affairs. The former councilwoman, who withdrew from a re-election bid last November, was selected over former village Mayor James Clarke.
The vote for Mrs. Beaumier was unanimous, except for Mr. Rouge, who abstained, citing "personal involvement."
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