Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
OUTGOING WAKEFIELD city manager Richard Brackney, left, shakes hands with incoming city manager Robert A. Brown, Jr., directly after a Monday evening city council meeting. Brown, who lived previously in Belding, Mich., began working in the municipal building last Tuesday.
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield - After sitting in quiet observation throughout Monday's meeting of the Wakefield city council, Robert A. Brown, Jr. took an official oath of office as the new city manager directly after adjournment.
The tall, affable, young man then shook the hands of each council member.
"Welcome to my chair," said outgoing city manager Richard Brackney. "My former chair."
When Brown briefly sat in the designated place, mayor John Granato kidded him, "You're in the hot seat now."
During the meeting, council members voted to pass a resolution declaring Brown as the manager.
They also voted to pay Brackney's three-year contract until the end of his contract on May 24 even though he was free to retire after Monday's meeting.
During the public comment period, Pauline Pikka of Wakefield verified the terms of Brackney's contract and complained that he would be paid for three months without any obligation to work.
"That's a lot of money to stay home," said Pikka, who pointed out that he also will receive his benefits during that time.
"We felt we didn't want to have two city managers conflicting with each other," said Granato.
The mayor explained that council members had no way to be sure how long it would take to find a viable replacement for Brackney, who had announced his retirement last year.
If the city's first round of candidates had not resulted in a new manager, Granato said the city would have had to spend $14,000 to advertise with the Michigan Municipal League.
Instead, he said, the city found Brown and now must honor the terms of Brackney's contract, which provides that he be paid throughout his entire period of employment.
When Pikka asked the cost of paying Brackney's salary and benefits in the next few months, Granato estimated about $20,000.
Mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro, who voted against paying off Brackney, said after the meeting that she agreed with Pikka, but also conceded that Brackney's contract must be honored.
In passing the torch to Brown, Brackney said the new manager will work with the council on creating updates for the city's master plan, capital improvement plan and recreation plan.
"He's putting together a plan to move this forward," said Brackney, who spent the last week showing Brown the ropes.
In other news, the council also:
-Voted to declare Brown as street administrator, so that he may act as the official contact for any communications between the city and the state Department of Transportation.
-Voted to participate in Michigan's required use of electronic poll books during elections. According to the state's website, related software "allows election inspectors to look up a voter's registration record, confirm their registration is correct and assign a ballot to that voter, essentially automating the typical paper process." The project is funded through the state with federal funds.
-Heard a complaint from Dan Gusman about the need to widen city streets by reducing snow banks. Granato agreed that will be done as soon as possible, and Brackney explained that a malfunctioning Sno-Go machine was scheduled to receive a new part Tuesday.
-Voted to approve the city manager to sign a local partner compliance certificate in relation to the Michigan State University Extension using the municipal building for some extension programs.
The city council will meet next on March 11 at 5:30 p.m., directly after the planning commission meets at 4:30 p.m. Both meetings will be in the council room of the municipal building. The public is welcome.
