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Close vote spares University City manager from firing
(by Jennifer Alexander - December 23, 2009)
Controversy in University City continued at the most recent council meeting, when three council members introduced a motion to remove City Manager Julie Feier.
The motion, which failed 4 to 3 in executive session, followed on the heels of news that citizens’ petition for a state audit of the city was successful and that longtime Director of Community Development Lehman Walker would be leaving for a post in Evanston, Ill.
During the public portion of the meeting, council member Lynn Ricci announced that she and council members Robert Wagner and Michael Glickert were issuing a “vote of no confidence” in Feier.
Ricci brought up concerns about exemptions made to the requirement that city officials live in the city and the way University City was soliciting bids. “We have at least one contract that I know of for at least $10,000 that was not put out to bid,” she said. In the past, Ricci has repeatedly criticized the city budget.
“I look at it as just a reprimand,” Wagner said of the statement, after the meeting. “What we hope to get from it is some different attitudes and managerial practices that have been annoying to the council — and some of them, frankly, have been against charter.
“I think a lot of people are making more out of it than I intended.”
Glickert said there were several items over the past couple of years that had spurred his support for the measure. He also cited Walker’s departure as related to his decision, saying he believed Walker, who had been director of community development for 12 years, had “some major concerns” about city administration. Walker could not be reached for comment.
Following the public statement of no confidence in Feier, council member Terry Crow moved to go into executive session, in which the council members and mayor meet privately.
“In all candor to everyone in the room, I think that it is difficult for us as a city to retain and attract employees if there is an opportunity for our employees to be publicly excoriated,” he said in his call to discuss the matter privately.
Ricci responded with, “This is all public because there is no response from administration. When I don’t get a response, there is no choice.”
In executive session, Glickert introduced the motion to remove Feier and was seconded by Ricci. Council members Crow, Byron Price, Arthur Sharpe and Mayor Joseph Adams voted against the measure, while Ricci, Glickert and Wagner voted for it.
Questioned after the meeting, Adams said he was disappointed in the measure.
“I couldn’t fathom a reason why they would feel that there was no confidence in the city manager when the city manager has worked hard to understand and follow the direction of the majority of the council,” he said. Adams noted that Feier had recently succeeded in getting a $2.6 million grant to build a new firehouse as well as several grants to modernize park facilities.
Adams also said that issuing a statement of no confidence publicly was unprofessional, a sentiment other council members shared.
“I thought it was more theatrical than anything,” Price said. He said he thought the public statement and motion were unfair primarily because Feier was not evaluated beforehand. According to the mayor, the council is responsible for issuing yearly evaluations of the city manager, but the format for evaluations is currently being reworked.
Price also noted that he and the other council members who voted against the motion to remove Feier did not find out about the motion until the day of the council meeting. According to Wagner, he, Ricci and Glickert did not come to the decision until late in the week before the meeting.
Feier also said she was not notified of the measure before the council meeting. Over the weekend preceding the meeting, Feier said some of the council members met with Walker to do an exit interview.
“They made a decision based on what he said without consulting me,” she said. When judging any personnel matter or matter concerning a citizen, Feier said, it would be important to her that both sides be heard.
“The majority of council is very positive, very productive. They want me here, they want to move forward,” she said. But, she added, “There seems to be a real desire to keep putting negative press in the paper.”
Feier, who is originally from St. Louis, has worked for University City for five years, three and a half of those as city manager. Previously, she worked in Ferguson, Mo.; Salida, Colo.; and Swansea, Ill.
“I’ve been doing this for 12 or 13 years,” she said, during which time she said she had never been subject to a vote of no confidence.
Going forward, council members on both sides of the vote said they hoped the council and city manager could move on.
“We need to get back to cohesiveness,” Glickert said. “But I think it is good that we have dialogue.”
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