Despite a heated debate over Linda Brown’s first appointment as Hillsdale’s city manager three years ago, the decision to negotiate a new contract for her was approved during Monday’s council meeting.
Brown’s contract ends May 15, and the council approved moving forward with a new one in a 6-1 vote.
Councilwoman Emily Stack-Davis voted against the motion because newly-elected council members and the public were not given prior notice that the vote would be held Monday.
“We made a very big decision, one of the few great decisions we will make this year, with no decent public notice that a vote would be cast,” Stack-Davis said. “The tone of leadership for the city rests in the city manager. She sets the tone for departments, plans for future, and is really a key position. Council is elected because our chief duty is to make sure that this person is what our voters and constituents would want.”
Stack-Davis moved to table the vote until performance evaluations were available and the public given notice, but it was voted down 4-3.
“This illustrates the challenges we face when we have new council members — that ebb and flow when you come in the middle of things,” Councilman Brian Watkins said. “The city manager position is one of the things they came in the middle of this time.”
According to Watkins, the Operation & Governance committee is developing an improved evaluation process for the city manager position so better information can be provided in the future.
Brown was hired in 2011, after preceding city manager Michael Mitchell resigned and took another city manager position in New Buffalo, Mich.
Watkins said a few council members and residents opposed Brown’s appointment at the time.
“In the end, there was no better choice,” Watkins said. “Since then, most people have changed their minds and Linda has done a phenomenal job leading the city.”