City Manager dismissal (A few years ago)

[cityslicker]

Does anyone have the roll call vote, on the dismissal of the city manager, a few years ago? He was let go and then re-hired again and is currently employed by the city. I wonder
if any of the current council members, are serving at this time. Also, does anyone know the salary back then, and what it is today? What were the circumstances behind the dismissal,also? Please clear up any, misconceptions.

[darkduke]

I don't recall the roll call, but I know at the time Ray Schmitt, Siobhan Elias, and Chuck Dominic were on the council. I believe the situation was that a few council members did not get their way on something they had proposed and took it to a personal level. One of the council members used their powers to call a backdoor meeting in the middle of the week in the middle of the afternoon to vote on the city manager's dismissal. The thought being if it is held middle of the week during business hours, no one would be able to attend and provide input and quietly the CM would be dismissed.

That plan backfired, because multiple business owners and residents at the meeting flooded the city council chambers and city hall. They were standing in masses back to the front steps protesting the dismissal, the way it was going down, and had nothing but praise for the city manager and the job he was doing. The council (with the exception of two of them - Ray Schmitt being a "no" vote, not sure who second one was) wanting to flex their power and show they had the upper hand, dismissed Mr. Nicholson.

The backlash after the meeting was intense, the council members voting for the dismissal were labeled as not wanting to listen to the public, were booed and instead of showing face walking through the crowd of the people they represent, exited out the rear of the building requesting the PD escort them to their vehicles because they feared for their safety.

[dog]

Aug 28, 2013 9:18:26 GMT -6 darkduke said:

I don't recall the roll call, but I know at the time Ray Schmitt, Siobhan Elias, and Chuck Dominic were on the council. I believe the situation was that a few council members did not get their way on something they had proposed and took it to a personal level. One of the council members used their powers to call a backdoor meeting in the middle of the week in the middle of the afternoon to vote on the city manager's dismissal. The thought being if it is held middle of the week during business hours, no one would be able to attend and provide input and quietly the CM would be dismissed.

That plan backfired, because multiple business owners and residents at the meeting flooded the city council chambers and city hall. They were standing in masses back to the front steps protesting the dismissal, the way it was going down, and had nothing but praise for the city manager and the job he was doing. The council (with the exception of two of them - Ray Schmitt being a "no" vote, not sure who second one was) wanting to flex their power and show they had the upper hand, dismissed Mr. Nicholson.

The backlash after the meeting was intense, the council members voting for the dismissal were labeled as not wanting to listen to the public, were booed and instead of showing face walking through the crowd of the people they represent, exited out the rear of the building requesting the PD escort them to their vehicles because they feared for their safety.

Quick link from mywebtimes.com:
mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=249285&query=nicholson fired

Elias and Sangston voted to fire him. Not sure on the 3rd one.

Edit: From another article and mywebtimes.com

Two years ago, council members Siobhan Elias, Chuck Dominic and Ken Sangston voted to fire Nicholson while Ed Benner and Mayor Ray Schmitt voted against the dismissal.

The reasons for his dismissal in the past were never crystal clear. Apparently, the three council members had certain expectations -- whether defined or ill-defined -- and those expectations were not met, which led to a breakdown and his dismissal.

[Anonymous]

I remember the uproar his dismissal caused and rightfully so. That was a bad deal that day. He never should have been fired.

[workinggirl]

I was there. Sangston, Elias and Dominic voted in favor of dimissal. Benner and Schmitt opposed it. If I recall, the issue was Sangston's dissastifaction with the current police chief. It was a sad day for Streator. I am glad Paul is back.

[cityslicker]

Did his pay increase? I thought city managers had a shelf life of a couple of years. I know they belong to
an organization and get recomended to a next job.

[dive61364]

he got a raise when he was hired back to manage the city. The information is posted on the city's website according to the timespress paper City Manager Nicholson, $125,273.42.

[chevypower]

That's pretty good money! wow I thought it would be much less.

[cityslicker]

This is just another example, of an overpaid public official, funded by the working taxpayer. With two
of his good old boys deceased, he is sure to get his former "yes" man, reappointed back to the city council. Let the high
salary roll on!

[WT Huck?]

I am not a fan of city manager style of governments. Many cities much larger do not have one and do just fine without. It seems like a way to insulate the elected officials from direct responsibility of the actions and operations of the city and "pass the buck". I would be a fan of moving to a commission style government with the "council" all being commissioners over separate parts of the city government and thus serving as department heads and making their actions directly accountable to voters. I also have seen this come up in other threads and IMO, I think an elected dogcatcher position is sorely needed. What we need is direct electoral control over things.

[Anonymous]

Aug 29, 2013 4:39:14 GMT -6 cityslicker said:

This is just another example, of an overpaid public official, funded by the working taxpayer. With two
of his good old boys deceased, he is sure to get his former "yes" man, reappointed back to the city council. Let the high
salary roll on!

He manages a city. If you had the credentials to do so, what compensation would you expect to receive?

[dog]

Aug 29, 2013 5:08:33 GMT -6 WT Huck? said:

I am not a fan of city manager style of governments. Many cities much larger do not have one and do just fine without. It seems like a way to insulate the elected officials from direct responsibility of the actions and operations of the city and "pass the buck". I would be a fan of moving to a commission style government with the "council" all being commissioners over separate parts of the city government and thus serving as department heads and making their actions directly accountable to voters. I also have seen this come up in other threads and IMO, I think an elected dogcatcher position is sorely needed. What we need is direct electoral control over things.

So you would eliminate the city manager and create probably 3 or 4 new fulltime employees in the way of commissioners? Do you think that the total compensation costs for your type of government would be more or less compared to what we have now?

[father of two]

What he is referring to is going back to the old style of government where each council member ran a department. This would be a huge step backwards. The current form of govt works. Where would we be without a city manager? Most likely worse off. Who would want to be mayor of Streator and run day to day operations for $20,000 a year. You get what you pay for. Nobody in their right mind would take on such a task for so little compensation.

[longarm]

FOT is correct.

[cityslicker]

Does the city manager have an assistant? He has a city engineer, department heads, and a staff of underlings. This form of government, does not function, without a great cost.
Ottawa,Il. has several commissioners and seems to flourish.