Danville City Commission touched on hiring an interim city manager again Monday but came out of another executive session without taking any action.
Mayor Bernie Hunstad said commissioners discussed three or four candidates in closed session. Most of the deliberation centered on two prospects whose resumes were being evaluated as the city looks for a temporary replacement for City Manager Paul Stansbury, who was suspended and dismissed recently.
Bridgette Milby, the city’s head of code enforcement, currently is filling in.
“I think we are pretty close,” said Hunstad.
An executive session to address the issue likely will be added to the agenda for Thursday’s budget meeting, and a decision could come then.
Hunstad declined to say if there are enough votes for a single leading candidate or if those being considered for the position are familiar to local residents. While there was no talk of specific individuals in open session, qualifications for the interim manager were addressed.
J.P. Brantley, who spoke on behalf of residents unhappy over the handling of Stansbury's firing at a previous meeting, pointed to the statute on the city manager position, which requires that qualifications generally include "professional training or administrative qualifications with special reference to actual experience or knowledge of accepted practice regarding duties of the office."
The closest Hunstad or other commissioners came to addressing the specific qualifications of the candidates being considered was when he answered Brantley as to whether they meet the statutory requirements. Hunstad said at least two of the candidates have advanced degrees and administrative experience and one has had held public office.
At least one prominent Danville resident came to the podium to call for a more civil tone at the meetings.
Mary Stith Hamlin, who hinted she had not had a strong relationship with Stansbury, said city managers have been replaced in the past and people should respect everyone who has run for office or given time to serve the community.
"What's very sad to me is when people get mean about this," Hamlin said. "We need to remember that we all live here together."
The commission will continue to simultaneously deal with looking for an interim manager, along with the budget process and the impending hearing requested by Stansbury and his attorney, Ephraim Helton.
City Attorney Vince Pennington said the commission should try to set a date for the hearing, but agreement couldn't be reached because of scheduling conflicts for some of the commissioners.
State law says the hearing must take place at least 20 days and no later than 30 days after one is requested by the city manager, which would put the hearing between June 7-17. However, Pennington said the hearing could be moved outside of that window if attorneys for both sides sign an agreement.
Commissioner J.H. Atkins said he would be out of town during the 10-day period and made a motion to hold the hearing June 27 with June 28 as a backup in case testimony goes longer than one session as Helton has indicated it might. After some wrangling over parliamentary procedure, Hunstad and Commissioner Gail Louis and Ryan Montgomery voted "no" to the measure because they want to make sure the dates work for all parties involved. Commissioner Kevin Caudill joined Atkins in voting “yes.”
Pennington said he will talk to Helton and Jeffrey Mando, an attorney hired by the city for the hearing, to see if there are suitable dates before and after June 7-17.
In other business, the commission hired HDR Engineers of Lexington to draw up plans for the water plant expansion. The next step will be contract negotiations. Once the scope of the project is determined, the two sides must agree on a percentage of the total project cost, which is expected to be between about $19-22 million, for the firm’s compensation.
Mayor Bernie Hunstad said commissioners discussed three or four candidates in closed session. Most of the deliberation centered on two prospects whose resumes were being evaluated as the city looks for a temporary replacement for City Manager Paul Stansbury, who was suspended and dismissed recently.
“I think we are pretty close,” said Hunstad.
An executive session to address the issue likely will be added to the agenda for Thursday’s budget meeting, and a decision could come then.
Hunstad declined to say if there are enough votes for a single leading candidate or if those being considered for the position are familiar to local residents. While there was no talk of specific individuals in open session, qualifications for the interim manager were addressed.
J.P. Brantley, who spoke on behalf of residents unhappy over the handling of Stansbury's firing at a previous meeting, pointed to the statute on the city manager position, which requires that qualifications generally include "professional training or administrative qualifications with special reference to actual experience or knowledge of accepted practice regarding duties of the office."
The closest Hunstad or other commissioners came to addressing the specific qualifications of the candidates being considered was when he answered Brantley as to whether they meet the statutory requirements. Hunstad said at least two of the candidates have advanced degrees and administrative experience and one has had held public office.
At least one prominent Danville resident came to the podium to call for a more civil tone at the meetings.
Mary Stith Hamlin, who hinted she had not had a strong relationship with Stansbury, said city managers have been replaced in the past and people should respect everyone who has run for office or given time to serve the community.
"What's very sad to me is when people get mean about this," Hamlin said. "We need to remember that we all live here together."
The commission will continue to simultaneously deal with looking for an interim manager, along with the budget process and the impending hearing requested by Stansbury and his attorney, Ephraim Helton.
City Attorney Vince Pennington said the commission should try to set a date for the hearing, but agreement couldn't be reached because of scheduling conflicts for some of the commissioners.
State law says the hearing must take place at least 20 days and no later than 30 days after one is requested by the city manager, which would put the hearing between June 7-17. However, Pennington said the hearing could be moved outside of that window if attorneys for both sides sign an agreement.
Commissioner J.H. Atkins said he would be out of town during the 10-day period and made a motion to hold the hearing June 27 with June 28 as a backup in case testimony goes longer than one session as Helton has indicated it might. After some wrangling over parliamentary procedure, Hunstad and Commissioner Gail Louis and Ryan Montgomery voted "no" to the measure because they want to make sure the dates work for all parties involved. Commissioner Kevin Caudill joined Atkins in voting “yes.”
Pennington said he will talk to Helton and Jeffrey Mando, an attorney hired by the city for the hearing, to see if there are suitable dates before and after June 7-17.
In other business, the commission hired HDR Engineers of Lexington to draw up plans for the water plant expansion. The next step will be contract negotiations. Once the scope of the project is determined, the two sides must agree on a percentage of the total project cost, which is expected to be between about $19-22 million, for the firm’s compensation.
