Still no manager for Loudon

City Council still at odds over Manager Search, LUB backs Mayor for position

ALYSSA B. MARTIN news-herald.net

Loudon Utility Board rescinded their unanimous vote for Thomas McCormick as city, general manager — at the request of Mayor Jeff Harris to support him in the run for candidacy.

Loudon City Council is still at odds over the decision.

During the monthly LUB meeting, which was held Monday, March 25, an item marked as “Manager Search Update” turned into a 3-to-2 vote for Harris to be the next manager for the city and utilities. LUB Director John Cardwell and Vice Chair Gene Farmer voted against the request.

At the beginning of the discussion, Chair Don P. Campbell turned the floor over to Harris — who had requested time to address the board.

“As we know, the General Manager Search has been ongoing now for six months, and I believe it’s time to make a decision and bring some closure to the process,” Harris said.

He said in his time as interim general manager, he has tried to make sure all current projects stayed on track and that he thinks he’s done just that.The mayor thanked the LUB staff, department heads and employees for their part in keeping the company moving smoothly.

However, he had a twist that shocked very few in the crowd.

NONSPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS

“It is apparent to many of us that after the special- called meeting on Monday, March 11, there seems to be a clear issue with the current nominee that LUB has selected,” Harris said. “It’s also my observation that the split vote on Council may not get resolved until some actions taken by LUB.

“So, with that being said, I’d like to humbly ask Loudon Utility Board to consider rescinding their nomination for the current candidate and nominate myself to the position — helping bring this process to a close,” he said.

During the March 11 special meeting … Harris referred to new, negative information that reportedly came to light on the current LUB nominee and asked City Attorney Kris Frye to speak to the allegation. Frye said he wasn’t going to give any information on the allegations, but there will be an additional background search for the selected candidate.

Frye assured the directors that the allegation shouldn’t sway their opinions on nomination.

DISAGREEMENT AMONG DIRECTORS

After Harris’ proclamation on March 25, Director Carlie McEachern spoke first — stating he believes they should rescind the offer to Thomas McCormick.

“I think we have, by not giving him the job after being awarded unanimously, I think we’ve done him wrong,” McEachern said. “I don’t think he would feel good, if we begged him to come to Loudon now. I think we need to, if we’re going to, start over or let the City Council resolve their issues with Mayor Harris.”

McEachern said he would support a temporary position for Harris. Regarding McCormick, McEachern said he had a great interview and would’ve made a great utility hire, not city manager hire. McEachern acted on Harris’ request and motioned for the board to rescind their support to McCormick. Director Bart Watson seconded the motion. Both directors were apologetic to the candidate and wished to express it to him.

However, not all directors agreed.

“We’re speaking on behalf of Mr.McCormick, and we have no idea what he’s thinking,” said Cardwell, who is also on the Loudon City Council. “He may still be interested regardless of what’s going on. So, it’s hard for us to say that he doesn’t want to still come.”

Farmer agreed and stated they were “jumping the gun.” He and Cardwell suggested they stay as-is with their vote until the Council sorts out their positioning.

Campbell disagreed with Cardwell and Farmer, stating they should do as the motion says and vote.

The motion to rescind the offer to McCormick passed 3 to 2, with Cardwell and Farmer voting against it.

Immediately after the vote, Campbell asked the directors if anyone wanted to make the motion to make Harris their nominee. McEachern made the motion with Campbell seconding it.The vote split 3 to 2, again, with Cardwell and Farmer voting against it.

Harris thanked LUB for the support and said it would hopefully help with the Council meeting by having their support.

A COUNCIL DIVIDED

During the March 11 joint meeting between LUB and Loudon City Council, the final call was for Mayor Jeff Harris to decide the outcome of the city and general manager search by either voting for himself or taking himself out of the running.

At the March 25 Council meeting, with all Council members present, Harris said from the two options presented to him at the meeting, he didn’t think either was doable or viable.

“At the March 11 meeting, I think I was given two options to consider, and given that support tonight, one option I’m not going to consider and the second one I really think should’ve been looked into a little bit more before offering it as an option because it’s not a viable option,” said Harris, referring to voting for himself.

Harris requested Loudon City Attorney Kris Frye expand on the situation. Frye said, after looking into the bylaws, he strongly discourages Harris from voting for himself because it reaches into unethical territories.

“Mayor Harris asked me whether or not he could vote for himself and, in my opinion, he cannot because it violates the Code of Ethics and could potentially rise to the level of official misconduct by bestowing this position on himself,” Frye said.

During all meetings since January, when the “Manager Search Update” agenda item comes up, Harris has excused himself from the room or turned the meeting over to Vice Mayor Tim Dixon, since he is a candidate for the position.

Dixon opened the meeting acknowledging the past 2-to-2 vote and asked the Council members if they had any comments regarding the situation or ideas on how to fix it.

Council Member John Cardwell gave a recap to Council on the LUB meeting’s motions to rescind their initial, unanimous support and offer to Thomas McCormick … and to select Harris as their current nominee.

Within a few minutes of relinquishing chair, and after the debrief, another motion to appoint Harris to the position was made by Dixon — causing another 2-to-2 split vote. As Dixon nominated Harris, he acknowledged LUB’s change of support.

Council Member James “Bear” Webb spoke directly to Newman regarding a comment he made at the March 11 meeting about how, overall, the combined entities voted 5-to-4, in favor of McCormick.

With LUB putting their support behind Harris, Webb wanted to point out that the numbers have changed now to a combined 5-to-4, in favor of Harris.

While Webb stated he believes Harris has done an excellent job as interim and, speaking on behalf of LUB staff members, said he is the man they want to move forward with.

Newman disagreed and said he doesn’t think Harris has done as good of a job as people are presuming.

“The opposing view is out there.The other side of the coin is there,” Newman said. “It hasn’t been in here, but it is out there.”

According to Newman, some LUB employees have confided in him that they don’t want the mayor as the manager but haven’t spoken up — out of fear of retaliation.

“We’re doing the city a major disservice by drawing this out,” Newman said.

“Explain to me what is the major disservice,” Webb said. “I’m not aware that there’s anything that’s been ignored. I’m not aware that there’s any services that aren’t being provided. I’m not aware that we’re ignoring anything.

“The police department is still doing their job (like when there was a full-time manager).The fire department is doing their job. My garbage is getting picked up twice a week.

“As far as I know, the utilities are doing an outstanding job and some of that goes to my point in regards to why I think it’s so important to go ahead and give Jeff the opportunity to do the job on a full-time basis,” he said. “Because his leadership has been successful over the last six months.”

“I would argue the opposite,” Newman said. “His leadership has divided an entire workforce — an entire utility workforce, city workforce. They are extremely divided. I mean, I’ve heard vocally about four people (who) advocate very strongly for Mayor Harris, and I appreciate those inputs. I’ve heard vocally the opposite to a much greater degree.

“So my stance would be the opposite.”

The vice mayor attempted to give the meeting back to Harris at least twice, each of which were interjected by another Council member seeking a solution to the dispute. However, each statement was met with more confusion and statements of “I don’t know where to go from here.”

Recent meetings to select a city and general manager haven’t concluded with any progress from the Council, and Monday night was no different. The four members remain divided on stances with no further input from the mayor and no means to compromise.

No further meetings or plans to discuss the manager search or solutions of such have been made at this time. The next LUB workshop will be held on Monday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. The next Loudon City Council workshop will be held on Monday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m.