Henrietta mayor, Aldermen clash on city management
, Richmond News Staff
11-17-2009
Henrietta Mayor Kelly Heber Saturday morning publicly addressed a suggestion the city’s Board of Aldermen remove her from office.
Heber answered numerous criticisms scattered throughout the two-and-a-half hour weekend session. Many voiced concerns of her ability to effectively run a city mired in debt, mounting bills and payroll exceeding city coffers. Despite criticisms, Henrietta City Attorney Robert Schneiders informed the board most gripes citizens and board members brought up didn’t constitute cause for removal from office.
If the board were to vote to remove Heber – which would require a majority vote of all members – her appeal to reverse would end up being before the board itself, according to Missouri statute.
“I thought you might make a good mayor. You acted like you would, but I’m not too sure,” said concerned Henrietta citizen Phillip Wilkinson, leading off the city’s redress of grievances.
The heated discussion sped up when board members addressed Heber’s employee management, and controversy concerning Heber performing duties deputy clerk Melba Rodenberg was originally hired part-time to perform. She also addressed accusations from citizens and board members that she continued being, as she herself put it, “the heavy” managing city employees despite an October board vote to delegate those duties to City Clerk Margie Long.
“The council voted back in August that they would like the clerk to be in charge of the employees,” she said. “But we tried that before down the road, with Margie being in charge of the employees too, and that didn’t work very well either. But the board didn’t want me being in charge of the employees either, which is the mayor’s job.”
Schneiders explained that’s often the way cities structure mayoral duties, likening a typical mayor to a city “CEO,” but that it isn’t the only option. Though the mayor is ultimately the clerk’s boss, it isn’t unheard of for cities to adopt the board’s suggestion, either, he said.
Additionally, Schnieders told the board Heber can’t override a board vote. Even in cities employing a city manager or administrator, that manager or administrator reports to the mayor, he said.
“Ultimately the mayor has the power over day-to-day operations. Now in a city like this, obviously, the mayor is not a full-time position,” he said, acknowledging Henrietta’s precedent for the city’s clerk holding decision-making power. “It’s not uncommon, nor is it a problem, for those things to be delegated to the city clerk or whoever is here.”
Board member Teresa Duncan accused Heber of taking Long’s duties as an employee manager, then failing to do those duties. Heber told Duncan, “That’s not how that happened.”
Heber and Long might’ve misunderstood one another regarding whether Long indicated she wanted Heber to take over the management duties – according to Heber’s understanding – or if Long was only communicating misgivings about the role.
Heber, a former employee in the Ray County Clerk’s office, told the board her decision to fill in for Rodenberg on Long’s off-days was a product of the city’s slim budget.
“I cannot take away Margie’s duties,” Heber said. “As a mayor, I cannot act as acting city clerk. But I can take water bills and answer questions if people come in.
“(Long) has vacation time she needs to use, and we don’t have any money,” Heber said, showing frustration in her tone.
“I’m stuck in the middle, where I didn’t want to be,” Long said. “Schedule’s done. Melba’s losing hours, because (Heber) is off on Tuesday’s and Thursdays. She chose to take Melba’s hours because the city doesn’t have any money.”
Alderman Bob Duncan first invoked the idea of removing Heber in October. On Saturday, he and Heber clashed over Heber’s probationary hiring of police officer James Walsh.
Duncan felt offended Heber didn’t consult the board before making the decision. Heber told Duncan her decision isn’t the one that counts.
“If you want him, you have to hire him. I can’t hire him permanently,” Heber said.
“He was hired; salary was set. None of us knew anything about it,” Duncan said. “Every other employee we’ve hired, we’ve interviewed.”
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