Parks & Rec department survives

The Albert Lea City Council voted 5-2 Monday to reject a proposed reorganization of the city’s management structure.

The changes would have eliminated longstanding Parks and Recreation Director Jay Hutchison, split up the services of the Parks and Recreation Department and promoted Assistant City Manager Sack Thongvanh as the department head over administration.

The directors of the library, human resources and finance departments would have become managers and reported to Thongvanh, and a new assistant public works director would have been added under City Engineer Steven Jahnke to allow added responsibilities for that department.

“If I supported this and I woke up in the morning, I know I wouldn’t be happy with myself,” said 2nd Ward Councilor Larry Baker.

The vote came about two months after City Manager Chad Adams initially presented the proposal and after multiple people, including former city employees, talked in opposition to the reorganization.

Adams had said the reorganization would have saved about $120,000 a year after future attrition. He hoped recreation services could be strengthened through collaboration with other entities in the community.

Sixth Ward Councilor Al “Minnow” Brooks and 3rd Ward Councilor George Marin motioned to reject the proposal, and Mayor Vern Rasmussen and 4th Ward Councilor Reid Olson were the dissenting votes.

Baker said when he was campaigning for re-election, the reorganization was one of the top issues people asked him questions about. Usually, they’re concerned primarily with property taxes and jobs.

“I have had nights when I woke up in the middle of the night and have been thinking about this,” Baker said. “I haven’t thought about this lightly.”

He said in the end his vote came down to supporting his constituents.

Brooks said he thinks the city has a responsibility to offer recreational programs and he thought the reorganization would hurt this area in the long run. He also said he did not think creating another upper management position at the city’s garage was necessary.

“I don’t feel the overall picture of this is going to do us any good as an organization right now,” Brooks said.

Third Ward Councilor George Marin, one of the most vocal opponents of the plan, said he talked with more than 100 people about the proposal, ranging from housewives to business people to students and laborers. He said only three have said to move forward with the proposal.

“From the moment I saw the organizational chart and began to process the information, something inside of me opposed this,” Marin said. “I have not wavered in my opposition.”

He said the proposal lacked many answers, including job descriptions of the new and changed positions and pros and cons, to name a few.

He proposed that instead of eliminating the parks and recreation director, the city instead eliminate the assistant city manager’s position and an office specialist position. That would bring $140,000 in immediate savings, Marin said, that could be turned around and invested into additional staff with the Street Department.

First Ward Councilor John Schulte V said as an engineer he considers himself to be a “nuts and bolts,” “black and white” kind of person. Though he thought the organizational chart made sense under the proposal, he couldn’t vote for it.

“My brain says looks good, my gut says I don’t think so,” Schulte said.

Olson said he had some concerns with the plan but noted he also has some concerns with the way the city is being run presently. He was hoping for more time and more options for change.

Fifth Ward Councilor Larry Anderson was also looking for more options to consider when making a change.

The comments came after more than a half dozen people spoke against the changes and a couple of people spoke in favor of collaboration.

Tim Donahue, former city employee, said he believed the reconstruction was wrong and claimed the morale of city staff was the lowest he has seen it. He said he thinks the city is too top-heavy with administration and talked about other jobs he thought needed to be filled instead.

Resident Gary Hagen said he was speaking up for the city employees who were afraid to talk. He said he saw too many red flags and not enough facts about the proposal. He also pointed to duplications in the city manager and assistant city manager positions.

Former employee Orrion Roisen of the Fire Department called the proposal a “serious mistake” and said he did not believe the changes were going to result in cost savings.

“In all these years, I have never seen a more bogus, ill-conceived restructuring plan,” Roisen said.

Tiger Hills developer Greg Moen talked about the city’s population and property tax increases. He said the council should focus on changes that will help the city grow.

At the close of the meeting, Rasmussen reminded the councilors that the council had tasked the city manager with reorganizing the city. He said at the next workshop the council needs to give direction to the city manager.

“It’s not fair to our city manager, but also our whole staff,” Rasmussen said.

Adams echoed those comments after the meeting.

He said he thought it was unclear which direction the council wanted him to take, and he hoped councilors could reach a consensus at the next workshop.

Adams thanked community members for their questions and feedback. He said Human Resources Director Mike Zelenak will likely talk with Hutchison this morning about the results of the meeting.

A call to Hutchison after the meeting was not immediately returned.