Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Mother lode, or gusher coming in?

Is Marengo (Ill.) City Hall sitting on the Mother Lode, or is the next gusher about to come in (and inside the city limits)?

Is Marengo really about to hire a new City Manager for $150,000/year?

Rumor has it that the gang at the City Council is offering the job at ten times the search fee paid to some out-of-town firm. What in the world could make the City Manager's job in a town of 8,000 worth $150,000? And how will the town ever afford such a salary? And then have to add benefits to it, which often run about 30% of salary!

Who are the people on the City Council who think so highly of such a job or even of such a candidate? Does a town (they call it a "city" over there) of 8,000 even need a City Manager?

Do the voters in the "city" really know what's going on? Or is it like in Woodstock and many other places, where the voters just shrug and believe they cannot have any impact of city hall.

Well, they can. YOU can. If you think it is absolutely foolish for a "city" of 8,000 to lay out $150,000/year for somebody to push a few papers around on his desk and try to look busy, then you'd better hotfoot it to all the future City Council meetings and give the City Council a big piece of your minds.

Details of meetings can be found at www.cityofmarengo.com

1 comment:

Gus said...

According to an article in the 12/30/11 Northwest Herald, the salary to be offered to the new hire is $110,000, not $150,000. Add benefits to that, and the total compensation will be close to $150,000.

Also, the article states that a Deerfield, Ill. search firm got the brass ring, not an "out-of-state" search firm.

The article did not include terms of any exit package for the former administrator, Deborah Nier. What did it cost Marengo to get out of its employment contract with her?