Enough with searching for a new city manager – we have one

The city council political divide reared its head again this week.
The dispute this time is about whether to hire Acting City Manager Kathy Angerer as the new city manager.
We are not going to get into all the ugly details and political maneuvering that took place. Most of it was a sideshow that served no real purpose.
You can read what happened on the front page.
Let’s cut to the chase here.
A few weeks ago voters overwhelmingly approved a change in the city charter to loosen up the qualifications required to become a city manager because the old language was so limiting it prevented otherwise qualified people to take the position.
When the charter revision was first proposed several months ago, it was generally thought there would be a new search conducted.
But this week Councilmember Fadel Al-Marsoumi put forth a resolution to hire Angerer.
He appears to have the support of fellow councilmembers Anam Miah, Abu Musa and Saad Almasmari.
Councilmembers Ian Perrotta and Andrea Karpinski are outraged over this, saying the councilmembers went back on their word to conduct a search.
You can make up your own mind on how this looks, but we are satisfied with Angerer taking the role of city manager.
Why?
Because we have seen the candidates who have come before the city council, and we were not impressed with the search results.
And it’s been a little over a year that Angerer has been acting city manager and we are pleased with the job she has done.
The street/alley repair project is going forward, and has even expanded to include more alley repairs this year.
Angerer has also been instrumental in working with the Hamtramck Public Schools District to likely qualify for a major grant that will go a long way to repairing our historic baseball stadium, which in turn could lead to a huge recreational boost to the city.
Under her management, the city has seen its budget surplus to continue to increase, and she is making strides to make the Fire Department services affordable.
Most notably, the political bickering has greatly lightened up. Council meetings are running much more smoothly, for the most part – hey, this is Hamtramck after all and we have a knack here of never being satisfied with the way things are going.
In short, another search for a permanent city manager would be a waste of money and time. Besides, the learning curve for a new person would put the brakes on the progress the city is making.
Even Mayor Karen Majewski is on board with the hiring of Angerer.
Tuesday’s vote on Angerer’s hiring never happened. Councilmembers Perrotta and Karpinski walked out of the meeting before the vote took place, thus causing a lack of a quorum because the mayor and Councilmember Almasmari were absent.
There must be at least four councilmembers present to hold a vote.
What this means is that the proposal will likely return at the next council meeting. Whether anyone likes it or not the majority rules. That’s the way it goes.
It’s time to move forward. Enough with casting our net to find a new city manager.
As the saying goes, let’s not fix something that isn’t broken.

 

Aug. 31, 2018

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *