Stay with it

When the Abbotsford City Council voted last week to switch back to a city clerk-treasurer instead of continuing with a city administrator, that should have been the end of the debate. The agenda item clearly put the decision before the council to consider “changing city officer structure.” It didn’t ask the council to “explore” or “research” the idea; it demanded a yes-or-no vote on whether elected offi cials wanted to continue with an administrator.

By a 5-2 vote, the answer was no. We realize, from the facial expressions and general feeling of reluctance in the air, that not all council members were 100 percent certain of their vote. But that’s the way they voted. They even had an opportunity before that to vote affirmatively in favor of keeping the city administrator in place. Only three of the seven council members present did so, leading to a failed motion to keep the administrator.

Just because the city attorney has to write an ordinance to officially eliminate the administrator position doesn’t mean council members should get a second kick at the can. Approval of the ordinance should be a formality now that the council has gone on record stating that a majority of the members want to return to a clerk-treasurer.

This isn’t the first time Abbotsford has allowed itself to get hung up on the writing of an ordinance when it comes to the city administrator position. Back in 2018, as the city was preparing to hire Dan Grady as its administrator, the council passed and then rescinded what is known as a charter ordinance. They did this because a charter ordinance allows the citizens of the city to call for a referendum on whether or not to establish the position. A petition was being circulated by now-Mayor Jim Weix to put a halt to the administrator position.

Instead, in an act of political cowardice, the council dodged the whole referendum issue by passing a non-charter ordinance. That allowed the council to proceed with hiring an administrator without the pesky public getting involved. The ordinance itself should have been passed much sooner, as the council was already about to hire someone before the ordinance went into place.

Now, the council is using the writing of an ordinance to drag its feet on an important decision. As Ald. Dale Rachu pointed out, council members have known since Aug. 3 that Grady is leaving, so they’ve had plenty of time to think about whether they want to keep a city administrator or not. To be fair, it’s not an easy decision to make, but it is one that only the council can make.

We tend to fall on the side of returning to a clerktreasurer. Even though we feel Grady did an excellent job navigating the city through a period of growing pains, we wonder if the position itself will always be a political lightning rod. Because an administrator outranks the DPW and the water and sewer supervisor, he or she must sometimes take fire from all sides when trying to do their job. It also sets up a potential conflict with the mayor, who is still the city’s chief elected official with authority over all city employees. If the mayor and administrator don’t have a good working relationship, all of city government suffers.

Having a clerk-treasurer simplifies city government, giving that person control over the operations of city hall without having to worry about supervising other departments. That job can be left up to the mayor and the council as a whole. As Mayor Weix and former mayor Dale Rachu have pointed out, Abbotsford got along just fine (for the most part) with a clerk-treasurer for many years.

Time is of the essence when finding Grady’s replacement. The council should have voted to start the recruitment process last week, but because of the ordinance hangup, they held off. That will put the city at a disadvantage as they look for a competent person to take over city hall. We worry what kind of effect this will have on city operations. The council needs to proceed with finding a clerk-treasurer without any further delays.

The Tribune-Phonograph editorial board consists of publisher Kris O’Leary and editor Kevin O’Brien