By Phyllis Schaltenbrand
Tuesday Nights work session of the City Council was going along quite nicely until the item regarding a letter Mayor York and Allan Williams sent to the City employees in their paychecks was opened for discussion. Mark Brown, Councilman Ward 3, placed the item on the agenda in an effort to determine if he or any other Councilman would be able to distribute communications with the staff through their paychecks. According to many sources this manner of attacking a councilman’s comments by a Mayor and City Administrator has never been done.
The letter from the Mayor and City Administrator was in response to Brown using the word “cesspool” while describing the problems Mike Meiners owner of St. Charles Engineering had discovered during his three months of supervising the Public Works Department for the City after the dismissal of Mike Pratt.
Meiners had conveyed to Brown he had determined the City could benefit from changes in the employment of some in the administration of the public works department. Councilman Bob Kneemiller paraphrased Brown’s comments about the “cesspool” on the Council floor. “He basically called the entire Public Works Department a cesspool,” Kneemiller said. Brown tried to complete his description but the Council voted not to allow him to explain his comments.
“It appears the Mayor and City Administrator seized on the misrepresentation of my comments and are attempting to drive wedges between the Council and City Staff. I think the public works department workers better look out when these two begin their rhetoric. Williams is trying use the council to eliminate public works jobs by privatizing the water department,” commented Brown. The letter was sent out to all employees even though the comments were made about the public works department. “This demonstrates a departure of what the City Administrators role in our government is supposed to be. He should not involve himself with the politics, his job is to run the day to day operations of the City. Both he and the Mayor had ample time to dispute, comment and argue in a public forum, yet they decided to wait until I could not defend my comments and they sent out a joint letter.” Brown said
If Williams would react to our residents complaints as quickly as he did to these comments this City would be much better off. I have had a complaint about the City not cutting weeds on City property along Zumbehl for over three weeks now and still no resolution,” commented Councilman John Gieseke.
While watching City Council meetings Williams has been openly belligerent and openly hostile to Brown. “Williams was hired by the council, is being paid $148,000 to run the City not to protect the Mayor and be her campaign manager,” stated Joe Koester, Councilman Ward 9. “Williams might be the most inefficient and ineffective City Administrator this City has ever had. What has he done? He forced out a public works director without a solid plan on how to replace him. He forced out the Convention and Visitors Director without a replacement ready to go. In the private sector you generally don’t ask people to resign without clear paths of succession. Williams plays the blame game, doesn’t take responsibility and passes the buck. That is not leadership and the City tax payer deserves more for what he is being compensated.”
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