City manager, council president topics at council work session

Whether the city of Enterprise should hire a city manager was an idea brought to the table during the first of two organizational work sessions for the two returning councilmen and three city councilmen-elect.

The group met 15 minutes at the 5 p.m. meeting Tuesday, Oct. 11, before going into executive session to discuss the appointment of city department heads.

A second transitional work session is set for Wednesday, Oct. 19, at noon in the mayor’s conference room.

Before entering executive session Oct. 11, the group unanimously agreed to ask Circuit Judge Jeff Kelley to administer the oath of office to the council at the meeting Nov. 7.

How to select the new council president was not an issue of unanimous agreement. Traditionally the council presidency has rotated, starting with the councilman from District 1. “Each one of us would have had a chance to serve in that capacity and it has worked well,” explained District 1 Councilman William “Bill” Cooper, who is currently serving as council president. “To have a person of color in that position, as long as we are represented, that makes a difference. This is fair and it gives everybody a chance to sit on the hot seat.”

“That’s the way it’s been done since I’ve been on the council,” said returning councilman Al Miller. “

“I’m already seeing some things where we are diverting from the way things have always been done,” said Councilman-elect Turner Townsend. “So, could we decide to either table the ‘traditional’ argument or let’s put the ‘traditional’ argument on the table.”

“What to you mean ‘traditional’ argument?” asked Miller.

“I mean, are we going to introduce, as a defensible stance, that this is the way we’ve always done things?” explained Townsend.

“We can’t vote today anyhow,” said Councilman-elect Perry Vickers. “You’re going to have to come to a conclusion sooner or later,” answered Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell.

Townsend, Vickers and Councilman-elect Eugene Goolsby said they preferred to elect a council president from among themselves, rather than an automatic rotation. “It will be more important in this council than it has in the previous councils,” said Townsend. “Because obviously, the elephant in the room is, there are obviously some things we disagree on and some changes that I know the three of us want to make,” he said, referring to the other councilmen-elect. “I can’t vote for a set rotation.”

After an executive session spanning two hours, the group reconvened the open work session and the question of advertising the city clerk-treasurer position recently vacated by the retirement of long time clerk-treasurer Steve Hicks was addressed.

Townsend said that he did not want to advertise for the position until the council had had an opportunity to discuss a reorganization of some positions, to include the addition of a city manager.

“I think we need to start developing a policy and a vision for the city to separate the operations of the city from the politics of the city,” Townsend said. “Now does that mean that it’s done in one fell swoop? No, more than likely not.

“But does that mean we need to start that conversation? Absolutely,” Townsend said.

“As a councilman-elect, I would like for us to leave our options open.”

Miller questioned the need to hire a city manager. “They just hired a city manager when he got voted back in,” Miller said, pointing at Boswell.

“In our company, when we have a vacancy, especially in a supervisory or managerial role, we take a deep breath and we ask ‘Is this the time when we pivot, that we want to go in a different direction with this position,’” Townsend said. “It’s so much easier to pivot when you have that vacancy and waiting one week or two weeks in the grand scheme of the city of Enterprise, is not going to mean a hill of beans.

“I feel that the city manager job should not be up for election every four years and I feel that this is absolutely nothing against Kenneth Boswell,” Townsend said. “This is an acknowledgement that Kenneth Boswell’s don’t grow on trees.”

“Separate the politics from the operation of the city?” asked Miller. “Only 3 percent of the cities in Alabama have a city manager so it’s not that common.

“You campaigned on transparency, didn’t you,” Miller asked Townsend. “A city manager is the most untransparent job, let me tell you about city managers.

“Do you know that once you hire a city manager, it is illegal for you as a council or a mayor to interfere,” Miller asked. “You are asking for somebody to come in and run this town that is not elected by the people.”

“I’m asking to have a discussion, a conversation, to explore, discuss,” Townsend said. “With this vacancy, if we want to do something now would be a good time to work towards that.

“Kenneth has inserted himself into every nook and cranny of the city—which is fine—it’s what he’s paid to do,” Townsend said. “But I do not think it is a good idea to expose the operations of the city to an election every four years. I think we need to look at case studies to see what the higher performing cities are doing.”

“I am big on democracy and in saying that I mean, if the people wanted to change every four years, if they had disliked my leadership then that's the people’s voice,” Boswell said.

“We are all the people’s voice,” Vickers said. “Yes, you are a voice of the people and every four years you are going to get voted on,” Boswell replied.

“When are we going to sit around the table and ask Perry (Vickers) what he found out by knocking on 2,000 doors, or Eugene (Goolsby) what did you learn from your constituents while you were running your campaign,” Townsend said. “Mr. Bill (Cooper), what is that you want accomplished in the next 100 days, the next 1,000 days? When are we going to have this discussion? That’s all I’m asking.”

Townsend also recommended that the council consider former Coffee County District Judge Paul Sherling for appointment to the position of municipal judge. No other names for any other department head post were brought to the table in the work session.

The next organizational work session planned for the current and newly elected city council is Wednesday, Oct. 19, at noon in the mayor’s conference room.