I've been waiting for the council to make good on their June promise to hire a new town manager. Hasn't happened so far, and the scuttlebutt is that Mr. Adams and Mayor Campbell are 100% behind keeping Mr. Crews in place.
So I was surprised to see this ad in the Lynchburg News and Advance:
TOWN Manager: The Town of Brookneal, Virginia Town Manager, Town of Brookneal (population 1300)-part time, will consider full time. Manages/directs daily operations and oversees department heads; provides professional administration of all town affairs; and represents the town on regional boards. Serves at pleasure of mayor and six member Town Council. Should possess knowledge of public administration, financial management, and personnel management. Send resume, cover letter, and chronological work and salary history to Town Manager Search Committee, P. O. Box 450, Brookneal, Virginia 24528. Application review will begin immediately.
Is there a Town Manager Search Committee? I've never seen any mention in the paper about who was on it, what their selection criteria was and when they would let the residents know that they were working on actually getting us a town manager.
When you compare the above ad to the actual wording of the Town charter it appears that they missed advertising for several key components. Seems like the ad "dumbs" down the requirements of the charter, which is the only way they can slip their already selected choice in.
http://dls.state.va.us/lrc/charters/Brookneal.pdf
§ 19. Town manager.—(a) The council may appoint a town manager who shall
be the chief administrative officer of the town and shall be chosen solely on the basis of
his executive and administrative qualifications, and shall have some knowledge of civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. He need not, when appointed, be a resident of the town, or of the Commonwealth of Virginia, but shall during his term of office, reside within the Commonwealth of Virginia, and shall be appointed for such term as he and the
council agree upon, not to exceed town years, but in any event, to end with the term of
the council making the appointment. The town manager may be suspended or removed
by the council for any cause it deems sufficient, provided that no order of suspension or
removal shall be made until after he shall have been given at least five days’ notice in
writing, stating the cause for such suspension or removal and fixing a day when he may
be heard thereon. The action of the council, suspending or removing the town manager,
shall be final. The council may place the control and supervision of the police force of the town under either the mayor or the town manager.
I'm guessing that our current town manager doesn't have any engineering degrees, civil, mechanical, electrical or otherwise. And from the looks of the ad that this mysterious selection committee ran it doesn't look like any degrees are going to be required. In fact the only requirement will be "serving the Mayor". Let's just admit to ourselves, fellow residents: The Mayor has no intention of hiring anyone with enough brains and backbone to tell her "No."
I find it embarassing that the town is advertising for an important position with such a lack of professionalism. Are we so low rent that we advertise for a public administrator in the same manner that Hardy's fills its employee quota?
Here's my prediction: No one that is even qualified to be a town manager will apply, because they are going to blow past this pathetic advertising effort thinking that the salary is lower than the night manager at Bubba's All Night Bait and Beer. The only people that will apply are the one already "working" for the town, and maybe someone between custodian jobs at the various state run prison farms.
Get out and vote people! Take the time and make some changes in this town!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Combing the Classifieds
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12 comments:
How ridiculous can it get.
It's obvious that the "entire" council did NOT get to see this ad before it was posted.
This ad is supposed to be compiled by the Personal Committee, presented to council, then voted on by council before being placed in ANY paper, etc.
Word has it that the Mayor was pulling the same ad that was used when Mr. Gillespie was hired and simply added the possibility of "Part Time" to the ad.
What a crock. I remember the ad for the previous Town Manager and this ain't it!
This ad was placed illegally because it was not approved by the council and I'm sure that if its not pulled and corrected, this legality will be reported.
Also, this administration is considered a "Strong Council" weak "Mayor" administration, therefore the Mayor has no authority other than that given to her by the council.
Of course everyone knew long before now that the Mayor and her "people" would soften the ad so that Mr. Crews would qualify, so this should be of no surprise.
But I can assure you that it won't work!
There are a few smart people still left in Brookneal who know what the charter and the law says.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, changes the Charter of Brookneal other than it being carried out by the Virginia General Assembly, period!
This is cut and dried and not open to changes or variances by any town official, under any circumstance.
This ad is null and void, case closed.
If this ad is not pulled by Monday's edition and a new ad which conforms to the Charter be put in its place, the General Assembly will have a formal complaint filed. Guaranteed!
i know for a fact that "acting as a Town Manager" can hardly say common words correctly, and holds no degree's (except from the school of hardknocks) and this is who they want in charge of everything. All those who want him to stay where he's at need to switch to decaf, so they can see things clearly, the only place he is qualified to be is on the back of the trash truck.
Why is it that when we had qualified Town Manager, there were so many against him?
Curious of other point of views than Laurie F.
Edward,
When we had "qualified" town managers we had our town funds spent into a hole, employees at each other's throats, lost businesses, blight inceased and basically we were run into the ground. The last decent town manager we had was Danny Inge.
His replacement, Joseph W, was a nightmare of epic proportions. He actually encouraged the town to take out a loan, using a CD as collateral. The loan interest was MORE than the CD interest paid. Why not just cash in the CD, pay for the building and not owe any interest at all? He also set the lease for the police cars up. Why would you do a lease on a vehicle that is going to clock high milaged every year, and end up being worth less than the lease at the end of the term? We got ripped on those leases. The financial mismanagement was astouding, which is why he left. He created such a horrible financial state he had to leave before it home.
Mr. Gillispie was better in regards to finances, except he put programs in place that were better suited to a larger town and when they didn't work we had to switch back to the way we were before. And the fact he got caught flat out lying to council members and residents. I personally caught him in several lies, and Mr. Jack Carwile did too, and told him he was a liar at a council meeting.
Mr. Gillispie also cost this town money when he was handling Mrs. Francis's grievance, and he left the meeting at the attorney's office to handle personal business, while the town's attorney and Mrs. Francis and her attorney were sitting there, racking up fees, while waiting for him to return.
Mr. Gillispie also made changes to our employee handbook which are in direct conflict with our charter. He pushed a pay scale that is not feasible for a town this size and does not work with our employees. He did not understand non-profit law and had poor employee managing skills. The majority of our employees were glad to see him go, because he lied to them and played them off of each other.
All of this is public record, just go into the town office and request to read the minutes of the meetings.
So in response to your statement: We've had "qualified" town managers, on paper, but we haven't had a person actually interested in managing this town correctly. Also the past three town managers have been politically polarized, which is a conflict within the job. Town managers are supposed to be neutral. They do not choose sides. They do not pick
"favorites". They do not grant favors or special treatment to particular council members.
We have not had a neutral town manager since I moved here almost a decade ago. And until we get one this town will not improve.
Tracy M
Thanks Tracy, I have a much better understanding.
Hey Laurie, my post wasn't trying to eliminate your thoughts. I was just looking for someone elses opinion. Have at it.
Edward
Edward said: "Hey Laurie, my post wasn't trying to eliminate your thoughts. I was just looking for someone elses opinion. Have at it."
LOL You couldn't eliminate my thoughts if you tried. ;) Believe me, there were some who tried before you and failed.
But, since it seems as though everyone knows my thoughts on the issue of Bill Gillespie then I will yield the comments to Tracy as she seems to have covered things quite well. However, should anyone want specifics as to ethical and/or corrupt behavior while Mr. Gillespie was serving as town manager, please feel free to ask. :)
On a side note, I noticed there was a sign at Southern States for Kenneth Jennings as a write in for Mayor. What a pleasant surprise! I wish him well and hope that tomorrow brings some much needed change to Brookneal.
Oh, I should add a thank you to the brookneal blogger for posting a copy of the add that ran in the News & Advance. Mr. and/or Mrs. Crews (et al) failed to deliver my Sunday paper, even though I'm paid up through the first week of October 2009, so this is the only place I could have seen it.
By the way, is anyone other than M. Crews overseeing the gas usage for the town gas pump? Just wondering...
By the way, is anyone other than M. Crews overseeing the gas usage for the town gas pump? Just wondering...
GAS PUMP!!! Heck-- No on overseas his paycheck,or overtime.
anonymous said: "GAS PUMP!!! Heck-- No on overseas his paycheck,or overtime."
LOL
Well, there's one for you Edward. Bill Gillespie was directly responsible for getting rid of the check & balances in the town office. Now you have a situation that lends itself to a public breech of trust. Tsk tsk...the tax payers money should be guarded better than this. IMHO...
How about mowing the grass at his house with the town lawnmower?
So where is Edward? He had quite a few opinions up until the elections. Now he seems to have dissappeared.
Are interviews set up for the town manager position? Heck, with those minimal qualifications they should have an onslaught of applicants.
Now, let's not all play dumb. That add was written so they could keep Mike Crews, aka Mr. Felony, in the position he's in. Give me a break. Oh, I feel like John Stossel! lol It is a shame that they have to dumb down the qualifications for town manager just so he qualifies. But, they can't have anyone running the town who is smarter than the mayor, now can they?
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