Board to Get Several Options on Village Manager Powers

Two months ago, village trustees voted to open a discussion on the powers of the village manager. Tuesday night, they’ll start digging in.

Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting promises the first real public discussion on this issue since the April election changed the face of the village board. Trustees were advised two months ago to hold off on tackling the village manager position until they went through governance training with professors from Northern Illinois University, which they did last month.

But the question of revising the two ordinances that delineate the village manager’s powers has remained at the forefront, and much behind-the-scenes work has taken place.

Three trustees—Pete Heinz, Stan Bond and Matt Brolley—have suggested changes to the ordinances, some of which would dramatically reduce the manager’s authority to hire and fire employees, and to enter into contracts without board approval.

Here’s a brief rundown of some of the changes they’ve proposed.

As it stands

Under the current law, the village manager’s job is to “exercise control and daily operation of all departments and divisions within the village of Montgomery.”

To that end, the manager may hire, fire and appoint all department and division heads without board approval, and may enter into contracts or change order agreements, so long as the amount does not top $10,000. The manager must inform the board of these contracts and agreements within 30 days.

Currently, all departments and divisions report to the village manager.

Trustee No. 1: Pete Heinz

As he suggested during the election, Heinz’ version of the ordinance renames the position from “village manager” to “village administrator.” This version also limits the administrator’s ability to enter into contracts without board approval, dropping the allowable level from $10,000 to $2,000, and requiring the administrator to report any such agreements to the board within five days, instead of 30.

Trustee No. 2:  Stan Bond

Bond has requested the most significant changes to the ordinances. In fact, he submitted two versions of the laws, one with his own revisions and one with the input of some of his fellow board members.

Bond’s proposal also changes the title to village administrator; eliminates that administrator’s ability to hire, fire and appoint department and division directors without board approval; and mandates annual job performance reviews of all of those directors.

This version of the law drops the administrator’s contract-signing ability entirely, and adds a provision stating that the spending of any surplus (meaning non-budgeted) funds above $1,000 would require board approval. Bond said that number may be up for discussion, but with the village watching every penny lately, he believed it appropriate.

Bond’s version also specifically removes the administrator’s ability to increase employee salaries or compensation (beyond what is in the budget) without board approval.

Perhaps most strikingly, Bond’s version includes a section laying out the administrator’s ethical responsibility. It places special emphasis on “refraining from and avoiding any use of any office, position, village staff time or village resources to influence the election of any board, clerk or commission position in the village of Montgomery.”

“It’s so very important we achieve the highest possible standard of detachment from local political issues, and that seemed to be worth stating in the ordinance,” Bond said.

Trustee No. 3: Matt Brolley

Brolley’s revision is perhaps the simplest. He suggested increasing the village manager’s contract-signing authority to $20,000, but requiring three quotes on any contract over $10,000. He said his research shows that to be the industry standard in the area.

Brolley disagrees with some of the other proposed revisions, including changing the name of the position to village administrator, a move he called “pointless.” It would also cost money to change the title on letterhead and other items, he said.

He also questioned Bond’s ethics paragraph, saying he agrees with the thought, but the village manager already must comply with the standards of the International City/Council Management Association. He said he would not be opposed to adding the ICMA standard of ethics to the ordinance.

Brolley agreed that the board should have a say in hiring and firing of department heads but not lower-level employees.

Discussion

The proposed revisions will be presented Tuesday, and trustees will begin delving into them shortly thereafter. They may choose to go with one of the proposals, or combine them into a master draft, or change nothing.

Brolley cautioned against expecting a decision soon—a committee consisting of himself and Bond will be the first to start considering options, he said, before bringing their recommendation back to the board.

At least one board member doesn’t see the need to change anything. Trustee Denny Lee said the current ordinances have worked for nearly 10 years, and if they aren’t broken, don’t fix them.

He said reducing the village manager’s ability to enter into contracts would impact village activities—in fact, he said, dropping that authority down to $2,000 would hold up six contracts just for the upcoming Montgomery Fest alone. He added that moving the hiring and firing of department heads under board control introduces politics to the equation.

“We don’t know what those jobs consist of,” he said. “It’s too much politics and not enough running things like a corporation, which is what we need.”

Bond countered that, currently, the hiring and firing decisions are made by one person, and under his proposed change, they would be made by six, all accountable to the residents of the village.

“A single person is more vulnerable [to political pressure],” Bond said.

While the proposed changes will likely spark some controversy, Bond said he doesn’t expect too much.

“This is perhaps not the drastic move some have spoken of or been worried about,” he said. “It is a reasonable update of ordinances that are a decade old.”

The Committee of the Whole meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 200 N. River St.