Tuesday night, the mayor and city council were to meet to discuss finding an interim city manager to handle the day to day operations of the city of Auburn until someone is permanently appointed to the post.
While two names are being publicly discussed - corporation council Thomas Leone and capital improvement program director Michael Long -there is another option floating around: appointing the mayor.
That is a terrifically bad idea.
Oddly enough, this columnist has personal experience in this area. For a few weeks I acted, by default, as the interim city manager, because city council could not immediately unanimously come up with a choice for a short term caretaker when city manager James Malone left city service in September 1995.
While only a simple majority was needed to appoint an interim manager, it became clear, with an election less than two months away, that it was vital to have someone in the position that would have the support of a majority of the city council that would still be at city hall after the first of the year. In executive session three members of city council agreed on a choice (someone who is still at city hall and in hindsight still would have been a great choice), but we could not get the two other members of city council to go along after several attempts.
As a result, for a short period, I acted as the interim manager and served as a caretaker until an agreement could be reached to appoint someone for the transition until the hiring of a permanent city manager.
Until Cayuga County legislator Alfred Emmi, who also was the Auburn school district's former superintendent, came aboard, I served in an acting capacity. My job, as I and a majority of city council saw it at the time, was not to make sweeping changes - it was to provide stability for city staff and the public, similar to what an interim would do for the long haul of a search.
Thankfully, that same political and management scenario doesn't exist currently. Unless the mayor and city council want to let city manager John Salomone off his contractual hook immediately, they have time to find someone, in house or in the community, whether it is Leone, Long or someone else, to act as interim city manager.
Where there was a need, to ensure continuity, to make sure that every member of the 1995 city council agreed with the choice, a simple majority is now sufficient to make an appointment before Salomone leaves.
The mayor has a more vital role at this point than being the interim city manager. His leadership is required to provide stability, not day-to-day management.
That should be left to a paid professional, who is not an elected political figure, under the current city charter.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
That is a terrifically bad idea.
Oddly enough, this columnist has personal experience in this area. For a few weeks I acted, by default, as the interim city manager, because city council could not immediately unanimously come up with a choice for a short term caretaker when city manager James Malone left city service in September 1995.
While only a simple majority was needed to appoint an interim manager, it became clear, with an election less than two months away, that it was vital to have someone in the position that would have the support of a majority of the city council that would still be at city hall after the first of the year. In executive session three members of city council agreed on a choice (someone who is still at city hall and in hindsight still would have been a great choice), but we could not get the two other members of city council to go along after several attempts.
As a result, for a short period, I acted as the interim manager and served as a caretaker until an agreement could be reached to appoint someone for the transition until the hiring of a permanent city manager.
Until Cayuga County legislator Alfred Emmi, who also was the Auburn school district's former superintendent, came aboard, I served in an acting capacity. My job, as I and a majority of city council saw it at the time, was not to make sweeping changes - it was to provide stability for city staff and the public, similar to what an interim would do for the long haul of a search.
Thankfully, that same political and management scenario doesn't exist currently. Unless the mayor and city council want to let city manager John Salomone off his contractual hook immediately, they have time to find someone, in house or in the community, whether it is Leone, Long or someone else, to act as interim city manager.
Where there was a need, to ensure continuity, to make sure that every member of the 1995 city council agreed with the choice, a simple majority is now sufficient to make an appointment before Salomone leaves.
The mayor has a more vital role at this point than being the interim city manager. His leadership is required to provide stability, not day-to-day management.
That should be left to a paid professional, who is not an elected political figure, under the current city charter.
Cosentino is a former mayor of Auburn and can be e-mailed at cozguytho@aol.com
The Citizens' Say
There are 2 comment(s)
BILL wrote on Jul 27, 2006 12:18 AM:
Frank wrote on Jul 26, 2006 11:34 PM: