Motion to eliminate admin position fails
Abbotsford’s elected officials could not reach a consensus Monday night on whether to start the process of abolishing a position that was created just a little over two years ago.
Ald. Brent Faber cast the deciding vote against a motion made by Ald. Jim Weix to have the city attorney draft an ordinance to eliminate the city administrator’s position and reinstate a clerktreasurer.
Along with Weix, Alds. Dennis Kramer and Roger Weideman voted in favor of eliminating the position. Faber was joined by Alds. Frankie Soto, Dale Rachu, Lori Huther and Mason Rachu in voting against the motion.
In March, Faber was one of four council members to vote against renewing city administrator Dan Grady’s contract once it expires at the end of 2021. The 4-4 tie vote was broken by Mayor Lori Voss, who also voted not to renew the contract.
The move to get rid of the city administrator position comes after the resignation of deputy clerk-treasurer Louella Luedtke, which reduced the number of full-time employees at city hall from three down to two.
Council members have not taken any action to replace Luedtke, so it appears as if the city is going to make do with two full-time city hall employees. Grady told the council in March that he and administrative assistant Erin Clausnitzer have taken over Luedtke’s duties, but utility operator Josh Soyk is also being trained to do payroll just in case he’s needed to fill in at some point.
With all the uncertainty surrounding city hall staffing, Faber said it was difficult for him to make a decision on getting rid of the administrator position.
“I need to know what we’re looking at for the future,” he said.
Ald. Frankie Soto also questioned the timing of the action. If Grady were to find a new job someplace else, Soto said city hall could be left without anyone in charge.
“By the time we get someone as a clerktreasurer, we could be in trouble,” he said.
Soto said the council needs to “think about it a little bit longer” before pushing something through quickly. He also mentioned that he has not heard any complaints about the current administrator.
Even though the council failed to renew Grady’s contract, Ald. Dale Rachu said it’s not like council members have officially decided to move away from a city administrator.
“I see no need for the attorney to draw up an ordinance, and pay for that, if we don’t know if we want it,” Rachu said.
Ald. Dennis Kramer, however, said council members are making a bigger deal out of this than they need to. He noted that Abbotsford has had a clerktreasurer for most of its existence, and it’s clear that at least half the council is not happy with the administrator.
“We did decide that it’s not working as perfectly as we had hoped for right now, and I think we need to go back to that (clerk-treasurer) — and do it right away,” he said.
It’s unlikely that Monday’s vote was the end of the debate. Mayor Lori Voss, who did not run for a new term in Tuesday’s election, suggested the council take the matter up again at its next meeting.
“You guys can put it on your next agenda, and I don’t have to deal with it,” she said.
Editor’s note: More news from Monday’s city council meeting will be reported on in next week’s edition.
