Because this time even Zaetsch admits he was right.
I do. In part. Largely. Not totally.
He voted the right way but not strongly enough inclined as I would favor, despite being the key vote. That's a story by itself, my saying Tom Gamec was right.
But there's more story in the context, as reported by Ms. Sakry of ABC Newspapers' Anoka County Union:
Ramsey could be changing to a city manager form of government, but not when the charter commission recommended.
Although the commission had recommended switching from a city administrator to a manager Jan. 1, 2008, Mayor Tom Gamec, the lone dissenting vote, said it was too soon.
“It’s a timing issue,” he said.
The person the council chooses for the new administrator would be working for the city for six months and then be promoted to manager, said Gamec.
If the change would happen after that person’s probation were over, say in 2009, then he would be OK with it, he said.
“I would rather have the city look at the change (when the population reaches) 30,000 or 2017,” said Gamec.
Ramsey currently has a population of 23,000.
To pass, the charter amendment needed to have a unanimous vote of the council.
Gamec did join a unanimous vote to make the change effective in 2011.
The 2011 date allows the city to go through a four-year council cycle, said Councilmember David Elvig.
The commission has reviewed this for a number of years, said Hannah LaMere, charter commission vice chairwoman.
While the commission was in agreement on switching to a city manager, it was hard to come up with a date and it was not sure how it would work with a population marker and how the population would be determined, she said.
LaMere asked if it would be determined by the U.S. Census or another method.
The city has grown a lot in the 11 years she has lived here, not only in population but also in infrastructure, she said.
It will be increasingly difficult for the council to oversee nearly 100 staff members, she said.
According to staff background information, a manager would regulate the hiring and firing of staff and day-to-day operations with the city council continuing to adopt ordinances and resolutions and be in charge of the city budget.
In the past there have been issues with how the council has worked with department heads and staff members, said LaMere.
Gamec was right but not emphatic enough. There should be a referendum for any such change.
Others were dead wrong.
After experiencing James E. Norman as city administrator for years I would not want to see a successor have greater rather than the same or lesser power than he had.
The big thing, a city manager can fire anyone on staff without being answerable to anyone. It can be done behind the scenes, as quietly as a professional CIA assassination. On the other hand, a city administrator having the trust and backing of a council can go to council and say so-and-so should be removed for the city to work better, and go figure. Normally it would be a pro forma thing. On the agenda, in the best interest of Ramsey, etc. Four lines, little discussion, another of the many unanimous votes.
It's a bare comfort to have an elected body holding the hammer while being generally amenable to do as asked, but it's a good sight better than having a generalissimo with martial law power over every hireling. Don't do it.
Others, besides Gamec, were quoted:
“The timing is right to have this done,” said Councilmember Mary Jo Olson.
“I don’t see the problem hiring a manager and asking that person to play administrator for three months,” said Elvig.
“This would not be a promotion (for an administrator), it’s a city transition,” said Councilmember Sarah Strommen.
Although some council members were concerned about how the change could impact the candidate pool, Norman said the candidate pools for managers and administrators are not much different.
There should be a referendum on it before any such change is made. Having more direct answerability to the electorate is best, with the council a step removed from voters and the top gun in administration two steps removed, we should want to have the hammer held and publicly wielded on camera, by council.
Civil servants deserve that protection, just as people charged with crime deserve a jury.
The ultimate boss is the people. They elect council members. Leave the hammer no further removed from voters than that.
Are there any other citizens interested in a citizen initiated charter amendment petition, to require a referendum before any such change can be made in Ramsey? We may need to move. If two other people contact me saying they're willing to work on it, I will make it three, help on the petition wording, and go door-to-door for signatures to compel a charter amendment election on the issue.
Tom, you should have taken a stronger stand. What you did as far as it went was sound. It was what being a mayor is about, as far as it went. But that one unanimous fall-back date vote is troublesome.
Last point - Ms. Sakry was unclear, was this the lame duck group or the council at a first meetinf for this year with newly sworn members aboard? Did our new guys do this? Neither was quoted by Ms. Sakry.
Anyone with the answer, please post the answer, as a comment.