Mount Pleasant Trustees Don't Agree About Administrator

Views on having a full time Administrator in Mount Pleasant are split along the same lines as the narrow 4-3 vote that approved a search to fill the position.

Trustees Sonny Havn, John Hewitt and Harry Manning with Village President Carolyn Milkie believe having a full time Administrator is the way to go. Trustees Karen Albeck and Gary Feest believe otherwise, and while he didn't voice an opinion at the Oct. 10 board meeting, Jerry Garski voted against a full time position.

"I think the job description has been embellished to make residents think we need a full time person," Albeck said. "I think we need to determine whether or not some of these duties are even the responsibility of the Administrator."

Specifically, she was referring to duties that fall under the purview of the Finance Department or are more Human Resources in nature.

But Trustee Sonny Havn repeated what he said at the Oct. 6 Personnel Committee meeting.

"We're coping right now and thing are okay, but we need to get someone in here," he said. As further evidence to support his view, Havn pointed to Milkie's calculation of the time spent to carry out the duties of the job come to 55 hours a week.

Feest, who also stated his concerns at the Personnel Committee meeting, again expressed his doubts about needing a full time employee.

"We're not just coping. Are things more difficult? Sure, but couldn't we look at adjusting salaries and positions for staff to make it keep working?" he asked board members.

Another point of contention for Feest is the salary range listed for a new Adminstrator. According to the ad placed in The League magazine, the job is listed at $85,000 to $105,000, depending on experience.

"Why even post the range if we want the most qualified? Do we really think we'll get the best person willing to accept the $85,000?" he added. "And how can we justify the bump when we have staff who have a hiring freeze for the last four years?"

He concluded by saying with the village going through one of the toughest budget cycles in recent history, trustees need to weigh whether or not Mount Pleasant can even afford to fill the job.