Ex-deputy clerk worries about manager form of gov't

The city manager form of government would be advantageous to Havre, former Deputy Clerk Annette Sweeney told the city’s Study Commission Monday night.

But she’s afraid that adding a city manager would be cost-prohibitive.

The three-member panel that is deciding whether to recommend a change in the form of the city’s government has been talking to department heads and city managers, garnering input on the way the city operates.

Sweeney has retired, but members thought her 23 years experience in city government would be helpful.

A manager could “take politics out of the day-to-day operations,” she said. And the position might help increase communication between departments.

But, she said, the position would have to be added onto existing staff, and she was worried someone would take the post as a stepping stone to a larger city.

In order to get someone qualified, she said,”you might have to pay $60,000 a year.”

The city is already financially strapped, she noted.

She told the panel that she thought city officials performed their jobs well, but sometimes there was a lack of communication between departments.

She also said the city could work harder to enforce nuisance ordinances such as pet control and other such items.

The big three issues on the city’s plate, she said, are street sidewalks and water and sewer lines, then smiled as she said she knew the city had no money to solve those problems.

City voters authorized a study into the present mayor-council form of government and its recommendation. By the end of next year, voters will have the final say on whether to adopt the proposal.

The city has a wide array of options, but the one most discussed is a city manager form, where a paid administrator would run the day-to-day operations of the city under the control of a council. The mayor would become a weak mayor, who would preside at council meetings and represent the city at public events.

The study commission's proposal have to be sent to voters by November 2016.