AUBURN — With only 14 resumes, acting City Manager Don Gerrish said it might be wise to extend the deadline in the city's search for a permanent manager.
"We've received three or four calls this week from people that said they were interested," Gerrish said. "One way we can tell when people are interested is when they ask to talk to the acting manager to find out what it's like to work in the community. But we have not had the numbers we were hoping for."
The deadline for applications is Friday, but Gerrish said it could be pushed back to March 16.
"But we have plenty of time to extend the deadline if we're going to get more applications," Gerrish said. "I like to tell elected officials that all you really need is one application if it's the right one."
Councilors are scheduled to begin reviewing resumes at a special meeting Wednesday, March 28.
The city began advertising for a new manager in February. They hope to have at least 75 resumes to sort through.
"It's been disappointing," he said. "We just have not seen the numbers that we've seen in other job searches."
The previous City Council voted to terminate City Manager Glenn Aho's contract in October. It voted in November to hire consultants Eaton Peabody to lead the search for Aho's replacement and manage the city in the meantime.
Gerrish said he did not know why applications were so sparse.
"I don't think anybody has said they are not applying for X Y Z reason," Gerrish said. "I think people are certainly trying to understand where the community is going today, compared to where it's been in the past. And certainly people today do more homework on the communities they are looking at than they did."
Gerrish said the tough real estate market could be a problem.
"Families that work have to move spouses and find schools for their kids," Gerrish said.
"All of those can come into play. I wish I could tell you more, but that's what we're seeing."
Gerrish said the city has received six applications from within Maine. The other eight were from out of state.
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So Kelly, What do you have
So Kelly, What do you have against farmers??? I am proud to say that I am married to a farmer, have friends that are farmers and have worked with farmers every day for the past 31 years. They are the most honest hard working reliable people you could know. They are the heart of this country. Where do you think you would be without them???
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you wouldn't be related to a former councilor? Just asking to see if you're biased.
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In the comments you reference above, Mrs Herrick clearly states her bias in defense of farmers. Her comments reference only the remarks Ms Jaeger made pertaining to farmers. This particular rebuttal to Ms Jaeger has nothing to do with the past council's decision regarding Mr Aho's employment.
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To answer your question, Yes I am related and as I stated in my comment very proud to be his wife. Biased you ask! No more so than Ms.Jaeger is with regards to her boyfriend Mr. Aho.
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the reason I asked is because Ms.Jaeger was upfront with her bias, you hid. She offered an opinion on the matter, you merely took one piece of what she said and went on a tirade. We all have bias, Mrs Herrick, but some of us put them aside and contribute, some just throw bombs.
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You state that Ms Jaeger admitted her bias upfront...please point to the exact quote where you learned of her bias...
Mrs Herrick's husband has been trying to help put this city on the right track. You may not agree with him or any councilor, but at they are out there trying to make change happen and not simply sitting home bitching about it. Go to council meetings and be heard instead of simply being on here and being difficult with anyone who doesn't toe your particular line.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond."I've refrained from
"I've refrained from commenting in the past for many reasons which I am sure will be brought up." Which, of course she was prophetic, since you immediately jumped on her, although I guessed where she was coming from. I'm going to leave the 'right track' argument alone, since that is TOTALLY subjected and NOT based on any fact, whatsoever.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.If truisms are bombs, guilty
If truisms are bombs, guilty as charged. Some respond knowing the facts and others speak based on lies or speculation!
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I've refrained from commenting in the past for many reasons which I am sure will be brought up. But I find this article interesting and can't help but wonder what Auburn is looking for that we didn't already have. I encourage other residents who care about their city to ask…"Why are we doing this?" The answer is simple, yet extremely complex.
First of all, I would hazzard a guess that a very low percentage of residents in Auburn, or any city or town for that matter have any idea what a City Manager actually does on a daily basis. (If you're first thought is that he controls the snow plows, you are way off base) So, why is Auburn spending so much of our taxpayer money to hire an interim City Manager, pay that same company fees for recruiting a new manager…all after they "paid off" the former City Manager Glenn Aho for no reason. I say no reason, because ask any of the 5 councilors who ousted him this question, "Why?" and I can bet your tax dollars they will not be able to provide any educated person with a satisfactory answer. Out of the 5 councilors who submitted votes to terminate, 1 was a self employment contractor, 1 a life-long welfare recipient and another a farmer who was sitting in on his very first council meeting (specifically selected by the council so they could get that 5th vote they needed). Sound sketchy? It is.
Apparently, the 5 councilors who voted to terminiate Manager Aho's contract had decided that the decisions they made, or forced the city manager to make over the past few years of deep budget cuts were too much for some citizens and Auburn employees to handle. So…as soon as a few feathers were ruffled and people started complaining about the little things that went wrong, these councilors started blaming the manager. Someone has to be blamed, right?
So…WHAT IS AUBURN LOOKING FOR THAT THEY DIDN'T ALREADY HAVE? Transparency? Vision? Excellent organizational development and management skills? Leadership? Accountability? Someone who will always have Auburn's (not Lewiston's) best interest in mind? Someone who will work 50…60 hours per week to get that done? Someone who keeps the public informed, who can write, present, and manage a detailed, line item budget? Anyone who has ever spent any time with our former City Manager Aho, getting to know what he does, who he is and how he helped Auburn will know that this is what we already had. We had a strong manager who wanted to bring Auburn to the forefront of municipal government, to make our city better managed, more transparent and more efficient than any other town or city in Maine. We had a visionary, a leader and a damn good City Manager and we let 5 elected councilors pay him off and ship him out. Is this how we treat people in Auburn? Is this what we want for our city? I challenge the current council to do better….but with only 14 resumes so far to review…good luck finding anyone exceptional who is willing to take the risks Aho did to move our city forward.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Disingenuous Ms Jaeger
You know, as you are Mr Aho's current girlfriend, that the answer to why is unequivocally "no cause". You know that the council, including me, exercised the "No Cause" Clause in Mr Aho's contract to terminate him. For this reason, if a councilor or former councilor were to give a reason now, it might be grounds for Mr Aho to enter into litigation with the city. So, Mr Aho was terminated for "no cause". I'm sorry if that is not acceptable to you, but that is the reason. So, educated or uneducated people can think what they will, but that is the reason.
What is sketchy, Ms Jaeger, is the attempt at character assassination by labeling three of five councilors who voted to exercise their options in Mr Aho's employment contract. Using those particular labels, combined with your profile stating you are "a university educated Auburn resident" implies you believe you are better than the three councilors you label. What of the other two who voted to terminate? What do you really know about the three you chose to label? I, too, attended university. I served in the military. I have traveled extensively overseas, taught English, worked in banking, and was self-employed before turning to farming. But thank you for labeling me as a farmer. As Mrs Herrick stated in her post, farmers are great people who work hard and expect little. Fifty and sixty hour work weeks are a respite for farmers. Further, since five councilors voted to terminate MR Aho, please tell how I am "the fifth vote". It is really a matter of perspective. Any of the five could be termed "the fifth vote".
I am not trying to blame Mr Aho for all the troubles the city has had over the past few years. I truly wish him well.
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The 'fifth' vote was elected by the other 'four', which smacks of collusion. Not having been on council, and not being privy to all that went on, the 'fifth' vote should have abstained, leaving the status quo until the next council. Alas, the 'four' found their patsy, to vote as they wanted. Shameful, yes, illegal, no.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.The fifth vote..
The key words you speak are "not having been on council". You really don't know what you are talking about, you are simply talking. Of course you are entitled to your opinion and speculation. Can you say the former Councilor Samson, whose place I took, would not have voted to terminate Mr Aho's employment? Have you discussed it with anyone?
In a recent series of posts you suggest that by not voting on the bus wash project the current city council was just "covering their rumps". Now in the post above you criticize me for actually voting. Which way do you want it, Mr Breton? Were you in the executive session and privy to all that was said with regard to this situation? I was, in your words, "privy to all that went on". I voted to terminate Mr Aho's employment for "no cause" along with four other councilors. In our democracy that is how it is done. Five votes in the affirmative trumps two votes in the negative. Democracy in action.
Again, you are welcome to sideline quarterback and be a curmudgeon if you like, but it would be infinitely more helpful if you came to meetings and added your two cents worth. I would love to sit beside you at council meetings and hash over the happenings of the city.
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you're correct, I don't know what goes on in executive session, because that's the point of executive sessions, to keep the public in the dark. That's where the councilors get together and make secret pacts, then vote in 'public' when that is just for show.
The council needed that fifth vote, and rather that let the voters decided who should be the replacement, the council, granted it was technically legal, decided, leaving the public out in the cold, as usual.
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I'd like to apologize for calling you a curmudgeon. I had no right and I apologize.
The point of executive session is not to hide from the public, but to discuss matters relating to personnel or real estate. These sessions are designed to protect employee/employer confidentiality. It is not designed to hide anything from the public.
With regard to real estate, the objective is to prevent people from speculating (in an investment sense) on land the city is interested in developing and/or selling.
The choice of the council to replace Councilor Samson was in keeping with both the letter of the law and the spirit of the law regarding absent councilors. There is a process put in place by the charter which delineates the steps to follow in these situations. If you disagree with this provision of the council, please get involved in the next charter commission. There are several clauses in the charter I would like to have re-examined and hope to find a seat on the next commission - whenever that might take place. I hope to be seated beside you there.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Perhaps qualified people are
Perhaps qualified people are not applying because the word is out that Auburn Council is a pain in the neck outfit to work for, providing no guidance, but plenty of minute interfering with administration.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Give an example
Care to offer up an example to actually make your point?
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Specifics, not off hand, but
Specifics, not off hand, but I remember Mr. Aho repeatedly asking for guidance from the council and NEVER receiving it, only criticism when he tried to implement what they wanted. Look at what happened last night. They had a decision to make but instead of making it they cited 'not enough information.' Now a bus wash isn't my idea of a great way to spend money, but they had plenty of information and instead of voting it down,they just decided not to vote, so when time comes for an explanation they can claim it never came to a vote. Put it to a vote then stand by your decision. Auburn city councils are notorious for not acting then blaming the administrator. You have to have a thick hide to work as a city administrator, for sure, but Auburn takes it to the extreme, and we're now paying the price for that.
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By not bringing it to a vote, they DECIDED they weren't interested in funding the project. So, a decision was made.
This council, in the workshop portion of the meeting last night discussed it and decided they didn't have enough information to provide the go ahead. There is a history of bringing a subject to the council that has a terribly short time frame for decision making. This council decided, at least last night to not allow that type of pressure tactic. I applaud their decision.
The former manager was let go for "no cause" in accordance with his contract. He often pleaded that he had no guidance, but that was true only a portion of the time. If the council was split, he would say he had no direction instead of going with the majority feeling. Also, if it didn't fit his way of thinking, he claimed lack of guidance.
You, of all people here, should realize that just because the Sun Journal quotes something it ain't necessarily so.
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by not bringing it to a vote, they covered their rumps.
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