The Stanley City Council held a wide-ranging discussion during its July 7 meeting at City Hall regarding the role and authority of the City Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer and recent concerns surrounding the city’s hiring process.
City Attorney Nathan Miller was present at the meeting to explain the structure and responsibilities tied to the administrator position. He clarified that, in most municipalities, the City Administrator typically holds the authority to hire and terminate employees, with input from department heads.
“They have the ability to basically terminate, hire employees with input from the department head,” Miller said. “And then if there is a department head she is looking to potentially terminate, she then takes that recommendation to council.”
Miller emphasized that the city council’s role is to set policy, not manage day-to-day operations.
“That’s what you have the staff for,” he added. “And the staff would answer to you if there’s ever a question.”
The explanation followed a question from Alderperson Laurie Foster regarding how to obtain a copy of the job description Miller referenced. Miller responded that it’s laid out in Ordinance #2-3-3, which defines the responsibilities of the City Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer.
Miller continued, “Staff is here to do the day-to-day operations and you guys are here to set the policy and then if there is something that you don’t like or how the staff is I guess conducting themselves then you get involved I guess with the department heads. Technically in terms of hierarchy in the City, it goes Mayor, City Administrator and the department heads and then the employees of those department heads.”
Council members raised concerns about the city’s hiring procedures and the limited involvement of elected officials in recent decisions.
“So, she can fire anybody no matter what?” Foster asked regarding the City Administrator Pilgrim.
“No, right now it’s permanently wrote that city administrator would make her recommendations to the mayor and common council regarding the performance of continuing employment status of employees,” replied Miller. “She does not have the ability right now to terminate somebody.” He explained that that’s why the meetings were handled with Pilgrim’s recommendations brought to the Council in closed session.
Foster questioned whether council or personnel committee members should have been included in recent hiring interviews.
Miller explained that the City Administrator will most likely need input from the department head for the hiring process of a city employee and he said the personnel committee can also be involved. “But at the end of the day depending on all your processes the city administrator for a non-department head position typically has the final say based on the recommendations of who is there for that to then hire. But again, if that’s not what you guys want to give up or move away from that’s fine.”
“What’s the sense of having city council members then or anything if the administrator’s going to make all the decisions. What’s the sense of having the city council? What the sense of having the mayor? Just get rid of all of us. Let one person run the whole thing,” Foster exclaimed.
Miller reiterated, “The city council is there to set the policy so they would set the policy on how they want the hiring process to happen. Staff then handles the happening.”
Foster noted that in the past, council members or personnel committee members were included in the hiring process, but that was not the case during the most recent round of interviews.
City Administrator Nicole Pilgrim responded that the application process had been approved by the city council, and that department heads were the ones who conducted the interviews.
Foster then asked why council members were not included in the interview process this time.
“I didn’t have them on there because they don’t do the day-to-day operations of the job,” answered Pilgrim.
Foster countered that council members had traditionally participated in interviews, alongside department heads.
“Right,” Pilgrim acknowledged. “But I thought it was more important to have the people that were going to be working with them do the interviews so that they could get a better aspect of it.”
“So, they could pick and choose whoever they want,” commented Foster.
Some council members expressed concern about transparency and public trust in city hiring. Alderperson Jason Meyer cited past lawsuits and public dissatisfaction. “As a city we have had a number of employment issues come up some with lawsuits and so on.”
He added that members of the community are concerned that things are not being handled properly. Meyer stated that while one isolated incident might not raise significant concern, the accumulation of recent employment issues—some of which have resulted in lawsuits—has made the situation more troubling.
“There’s a history where the public does not trust how the city is run—especially the hiring process,” he said.
Pilgrim responded, “I wasn’t involved in any of those lawsuits,” but Meyer pointed out her involvement in at least one recent case, stating that inaccurate information was given to the council during hiring discussions.
“You have some responsibility in that, and I’m telling you people are not happy with how things have been conducted in employment for a long time,” he said.
Foster mentioned a recent hire who had previously served in the military with a current department head.
Pilgrim offered, “If you want, I can do background checks on everybody who works here and see who they’re related to and who they are friends with, Laurie.”
Miller addressed a question from Mayor Mike Henke about what it would take to remove the administrator portion from the City Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer position. Since the role is defined by a charter ordinance, the City Council would need a two-thirds majority vote to amend it. In response to a question from Henke, Miller clarified that there is no required timeline or publication requirement associated with making that change.