The search for a Little Falls City Administrator is getting to be a regular saga – it may unfold for decades at the rate it’s going. In the October 28, 2007, issue of the Morrison County Record, Joyce Moran reported on the results of four candidate interviews conducted recently. An unnamed candidate, the lone female in the field, was called “strong-headed” and hacked for not wanting to leave her farm and move into the city if she got the position.
Is this not calling the kettle black? This City Council is so strong-headed that it’s willing to pass ordinances that go against state law (i.e. the ordinance that requires that the city admin live in the city). The Council better realize that it’s going to take a strong-headed person to deal with all of their conflicting personalities and petty bickering.
Turning into a hammer-headed shark,
Phineas F. A. Pickerel
October 29, 2007 at 2:44 pm
With the publication of the Council’s comments about the current administrator search being available on the internet for all to see… you are correct in saying that this process may become a “saga” of sorts. With each edition of the paper painting a picture of a finicky, fractured council – the chances of getting a top-shelf, “local” candidate diminishes quite a bit.
One of the issues at play is that while the Council has given some attention to the loosening of their residency requirements for the city administrator position, the comments making it into the paper show that there is definitely an “unofficial” residency requirement still in place.
As for the lone female candidate in this round of applicants, if it is the person I assume it is, she is one of the most professional, grade A people you could ever have look at the job. To dismiss her out of hand because of that restrictive residency requirement and a from-the-hip assessment of her personality telegraphs to the world that the Council is not the most trustworthy or stable in the region.
How would you like to be Chisholm Administrator Garrison Hale and read the latest comments in comment in the paper? As I read the article, it basically said he was the last guy standing so the Council would give him a second look but didn’t hold out a lot of hope that he’d be the guy.
This may take a while…
- Mini-Mackerel
October 29, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for the comments, Mini. I’m beginning to wonder if we’re going to be able to trust the Council’s eventual decision on this or anything else. I’m feeling sorry for whoever does get picked because it’s going to be a tough job, unless the Council picks someone who’s willing to play political ball with the vocal majority. If that happens, it won’t be in the best interests of the city. A proper City Admin needs to be able to tell a Council where it’s going wrong and the Council needs to trust the City Admin’s advice.