Trustees to Discuss Reducing Village Manager Role Tonight

During the recent election, Trustee Pete Heinz ran on a platform of reducing the power of the village manager and returning some of that power to the Village Board. Montgomery trustees will begin that discussion tonight, but it’s not Heinz who is bringing the issue to the table.

Trustee Andy Kaczmarek confirmed that he is “spearheading” the move to revise the two ordinances that set forth the village manager’s duties. He requested those two documents—Ordinance 929, which established the powers of the village manager in December 2000, and Ordinance 981, which amended them in February 2002—be included on the agenda for tonight’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Specifically, Kaczmarek said, he wants to eliminate the 2002 amendment, which allows Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura to enter into contracts of $10,000 or less without board approval. She must still inform the board of these contracts within 30 days, but she does not need trustees to sign off on them.

Kaczmarek also wants to see the board eliminate the village manager’s authority to hire and terminate employees without board approval. Montgomery does not have a separate human resources department, and those duties—including negotiations with the village’s two employee unions—are handled through Gaura’s office.

Gaura had no comment about the proposed changes.

 Two trustees who stated their support for the system, Rob Watermann and Jeanne Felten, were not returned to the board in the April election.

Kaczmarek believes he now has the votes to make this move because of  the board's new make-up: Heinz was re-elected for a seventh term, and Stan Bond — who has been critical of the village manager system — was elected for his first term.

Voters also elected Matt Brolley to his first term. Brolley has said he is in full support of the village manager form of government.

While Brolley had no comment on Kaczmarek’s proposal, Bond said that counting him as a sure vote in this case would be “predicting, and also speaking for me, which I find troublesome.”

Bond said he welcomes the discussion on the powers of the village manager, calling it a healthy one, and noting that it “hasn’t occurred in 10 years.”

The other three trustees—Heinz, Denny Lee and Bill Keck—did not return calls for comment.  Heinz said during his recent re-election campaign he believes the village manager’s office has too much power and Gaura makes too much money. According to her contract, last approved in 2009, Gaura’s base salary is $146,391.

Her contract runs until May 2013 or until the end of Village President Marilyn Michelini’s current term, whichever comes first. 

Under the current ordinances, the village manager is tasked with exercising "control and daily operation of all departments and divisions within the village of Montgomery," and all department and division heads report to that manager. Heinz has advocated returning to an earlier system, in which each trustee had control over certain village departments.

The Committee of the Whole will meet at Village Hall at 7 p.m. The meeting is free and open to the public.