Minutes - Council - 05/24/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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way they were going to hire him as an Administrator. So the pause was for Mr. Hagen to go through the test again to see if there was growth. He stated the records will reflect that he had stressed during the meeting that he wanted Mr. Hagen to be tested again because he felt it wasn't fair he hadn't been tested and they were going to use the test from his original meeting. Mayor Kuzma noted he had also stated that if it came back and they didn't feel Mr. Hagen had grown to that point, that they would start the process over. He stated that is where they were at. Councilmember Howell read a note that went out to both job applicants on May 6,2022, "Hi(Mark Korin) /(Brian Hagen) I am writing to provide additional information in regards to the City Council's actions this past Tuesday. The Council did not make a decision at the meeting and neither candidate has been rejected from the process. No candidate has yet been selected and the Council is simply allowing some additional time in order to gather some additional information. Thank you for your patience and we will keep you updated as we move through the process. Until a formal decision is made by the Council you remain one of two finalists under consideration for the position of City Administrator. Thank you for your interest in the position. Please contract our Administrator Services Director Colleen Lasher if you have any questions. Best regards, Kurt (Ulrich)." She stated the day that she found out that this was happening, she was talking to a Councilmember and proposing another strategy on how they could use both candidates and utilize them in the City. The premature decision of the City Clerk to do what she did negated what was going on. She stated they had put a pause in the process which lets them work with two people they chose to work with on the Council, not a quorum, but a couple Councilmembers and come up with ideas. She stated that shouldn't be lifted away from them. Councilmember Howell also pointed out that they are getting off track from the point that text messaging is a terrible form of communication. She stated this is the letter that should have gone out originally; it is a beautifully written letter. She stated this is how they should be communicating with job applicants in the City. She stated all she has been asking for is that they say go forward that the City Clerk won't be communicating in text messages with job applicants. And that they won't be communicating going forward at 1:46 a.m. regardless of the reason. She stated if it had gone out in an email this would have never happened. She stated those are the points she has been trying to bring forward. She stated if they don't say this won't happen going forward,there is nothing to say to fall back on and say this is what has been mentioned that we don't want happening again. She stated that is all she has been asking for. She repeated there are multiple people who disagree with Administrative Services Director Lasher's interpretation of events and it felt really unfortunate to have that pulled away from them when they were trying to have conversations with other Councilmembers in the background. Mayor Kuzma asked Administrative Services Director Lasher is she had anything more to say. Administrative Services Director Lasher replied she thought she said everything she needed to say without being redundant other than to add she could have been asked, instead of having this just appear on an agenda to propose her being fired. Just like she could have been asked back in February 2022 about advertising for another situation that she was under fire for. She stated she wasn't asked at that time either and it does feel very personal. She stated she has a cell phone, desk phone, and is available all the time. She stated she was never asked but could have easily provided an answer but instead it ended up in the paper and on Facebook. She stated she will stop talking now because she felt she had said enough. City Council/May 24, 2022 Page 13 of 21