(From an email forwarded by the Athertonian Moderator)
Please see this urgent appeal from Council Member Lewis and consider attending this emergency meeting called by the council for today to provide your input to our elected town officials on how to keep the town running with no senior, experienced management as of next week. (Note: since January, we have lost Police Chief Glenn Nielson, Building Chief Mike Wassman, Town Manager Jerry Gruber and now Assistant Town Manager Eileen Wilkerson.)
Please see this urgent appeal from Council Member Lewis and consider attending this emergency meeting called by the council for today to provide your input to our elected town officials on how to keep the town running with no senior, experienced management as of next week. (Note: since January, we have lost Police Chief Glenn Nielson, Building Chief Mike Wassman, Town Manager Jerry Gruber and now Assistant Town Manager Eileen Wilkerson.)
Begin forwarded message:
From: Elizabeth Lewis <lizlew08@gmail.com>Date: October 16, 2010 7:50:47 AM PDTTo: Elizabeth Lewis <lizlew08@gmail.com>Subject: Atherton Special Council Meeting today - Sat Oct 16 @ 3pm
Dear Atherton Friends,I am writing to inform you of an emergency, Special Open and Closed Session Council Meeting scheduled for TODAY, Saturday, Oct 16 at 3pm at Town Hall. I urge you to come and express your concerns about the state of the Town. The agenda is attached.Yesterday, Friday, Oct 15, 2010, Eileen Wilkerson who served as Atherton's Asst City Manager, City Clerk and head of Atherton's Human Resources and Employee Relations tendered her resignation effective next Thursday, October 21, 2010.As you probably already know, Jerry Gruber, our City Manager, resigned with his last day being next Friday, October 22, 2010. By next weekend we will be without a City Manger to run the Town.An Ad Hoc Interim City Manager Search Committee was formed at our last Council Meeting on Sept 30, 2010 consisting of Mayor Kathy McKeithen and Vice Mayor Jim Dobbie. A recruitment notice has been sent to all appropriate agencies calling for resumes with the expectation to receive and review resumes over the next several weeks or month.It was anticipated that Eileen Wilkerson, the current Assistant City Manager, serve as the interim City Manager to minimize disruptions in the operation of our Town while a thorough and careful search was launched for an Interim City Manager to manage the town until a permanent City Manager was hired.On Thursday this week the Ad Hoc Committee met with Eileen, Jerry Gruber and the City Attorney to discuss this transition. The result of this meeting leaves us with no management at all!
Eileen was hired by Jerry Gruber 2 1/2 years ago. She came to Atherton with years of public sector experience and has put in place valuable critical ABAG insurance, and emplopment and H/R procedures, which we didn't have before to protect the Town from potential employment liabilities. It is a great loss for the Town to have Eileen leave at this critical time. I am distressed that the Ad Hoc Committee was unable to keep this valuableemployee from walking away.Every month since the beginning of the year we have been in one crisis after another. Over the past several months we have lost one key and valuable employee after another; the Chief Building Official; the City Manager and now the Assistant City Manager.We are now in a crisis mode with no good options. Maybe our temporary, 3-day a week, part-time Building official could take on the job? Maybe our Chief of Police could take the helm? I am very wary that we may be pressured to hire a bad choice because we have lost the luxury of time to an adequate recruitment job. We could use the support of more concerned residents to help the council sort through this crisis situation.If you cannot come in person to express your thoughts, please feel free to email me back and I will make sure your voice is heard at this meeting.Elizabeth LewisCouncil MemberTown of Atherton
I can't attend the meeting, but in my experience when this many competent people leave an organization, there is something seriously wrong with the organization. I hope the meeting addresses the reasons people are leaving.
ReplyDelete(From Elizabeth Hammack)
ReplyDeleteI would say hire someone temporarily as an interim measure. Someone like Richard Moore, former manager and former police chief, could be asked to keep things running temporarily. Don’t know if he would be willing to do so, however.
By the time I read the appeal to attend the meeting, it was too late. When massive resignations happen, it is obviously the fault of management, and I am sorry to say in this case, the Town Council (ultimately the Mayor). This is cause for concern. Please keep us in the loop. I agree, that Chief Moore could be a valuable interim.
ReplyDelete