Council to hire interim administrator

The Washington City Council voted to hire an interim city manager at a special meeting Friday afternoon. The council voted to authorize Mayor Sandra Johnson to enter into a contract with Dick Schrad to fulfill many of the duties of a city administrator. The council has begun the process of searching for a full-time city administrator. The former city administrator, Dave Plyman, left Washington at the end of May to take a job in Rochelle, Ill.

Schrad sent a letter to the council in May in which he expressed a desire to fulfill some of the city administrator duties while the council looked for Plyman?s replacement. The council discussed Schrad?s offer at its regular council meeting on June 1. At that time, the councilors believed that the other city employees could share the administrator?s responsibilities and thus declined Schrad?s offer.

The city staff met Thursday morning to discuss the responsibilities. At Friday?s special session, Mayor Johnson said she was overwhelmed by the additional duties placed on her and the other staffers. The council invited Schrad to speak at its meeting Friday. Schrad repeated his offer and request for compensation, which was a simple hourly wage. Schrad said he would work for $40 an hour for time that had to be spent at city hall and $25 an hour for work that did not require his presence at city hall.

The council asked Schrad how soon he could start, and he replied that he could start as soon as the following week. Schrad said he would add details to the proposal over the weekend and immediately deliver it to Johnson for her signature.

Schrad said that while he could start this week, he is committed to being out of the area for two weeks near the end of June.

Another issue with city administration the council discussed was the approval of large purchases. When Plyman left, the council agreed to authorize Mayor Johnson and City Accountant Joe Myers to make purchases over $1,000 in the event of an emergency. Otherwise, the purchase had to come before the council.

Johnson said the council?s restrictions have already proven to be a hardship for some city departments. She said that she heard from Maintenance and Construction director J.J. Bell that he needs to purchase a water valve for about $1,500.

?They feel that having to wait two weeks for the council to meet is handicapping them,? said Johnson.

Councilor Mike Roth said there was no need to change the rule. He said the problems created by the delay in purchase-approvals could be avoided through adequate planning. The council agreed to leave the existing rule in place.