Operating behind closed doors harms city manager search

On Oct. 16 the Nevada City Council voted 4-0 to hire Bill Kelly as our new city manager to fill the opening left when Craig Hubler resigned on April 10. However, during Tuesday's council meeting the council decided they could not agree on a salary and benefit package, but there were many other reasons the city dodged a bullet on this one. The council's secretive approach to the hiring process nearly saddled the city with a city manager that could have brought huge liabilities to the office.

Frankly, we've had it with such behavior on the part of the council.

Over the weekend additional information came to light about Kelly's tenure as city manager in Fort Madison, Iowa, and before that in Bisbee, Ariz. That led us to question his suitability as Nevada's city manager.

For example, during Tuesday's council meeting Nevada resident Robin Moore told the council that over the weekend she had heard from friends in Fort Madison, that Bill Kelly was "not a good fit for a community wanting economic development. Fort Madison didn't look at his background and they hoped that we won't make the same mistake."

Well, we understand the Nevada City Council did take a close look at Kelly's record in Iowa and did not rely on his resume or the information provided by Robert Saunders, who the council hired to find city manager candidates, to verify his credentials.

However, they do not appear to have personally looked into his time as city administrator in Bisbee, Ariz., where he was fired before Fort Madison hired him.

And since, unlike most towns and cities looking for a new city manager, our city council did not tell Nevada residents who their three or four finalists were, and didn't give the community an opportunity to learn anything about Kelly until the council was ready to hire him.

In contrast when Fort Madison hired Kelly's successor, they gave each of their finalists a tour of the town and held a public reception for them, before making their final choice and in Bisbee, Ariz., they held interviews of their finalists in public.

After the announcement on Friday a number of Nevada residents, including some of us at the Daily Mail, searched the Internet for information on Kelly. The information that was found was troubling.

Indeed, stories in the Sierra Vista Herald, which covers the Bisbee, Ariz., city council, told of several questionable issues, including three lawsuits that were filed against Bisbee during Kelly's final months on the job by former city department heads; allegations of his promoting a city employee into a higher paying job that she was not qualified for and reports that several women had complained about Kelly's temper, although they had not filed grievances.

According to a story in the March 23, 2000, Sierra Vista Herald, "Kelly has been criticized by council members for lacking professionalism, for his management of personnel and for losing his temper."

While newspaper accounts should not be used alone to decide whether or not to hire someone, they can provide indications of what to expect and raise questions that should be investigated.

Had our city council not followed their penchant for operating behind closed doors in secret this information would have come to light long before they announced their intention to hire Kelly.

Since it appears the council is now back at square one in the process of finding a new city manager, we would urge that when the council decides who their two, three or four finalists are that they follow the example used by most cities and let Nevada citizens know who the finalists are and something about them.

Although the city manager works directly for the city council, the man or woman selected also works for all of the citizens of Nevada, who ultimately pay the city manager's salary and pay for any mistakes the council makes.

Nevada Daily Mail