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

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Kurt Ulrich, former Ramsey City Administrator stated he overlapped this situation a little bit so he wanted to weigh in. He stated every employee serves at the pleasure of the Council and it is their right to hold those employees accountable, that is their job. He stated as Administrator he always respected that. He stated Council had talked a lot about process and thought the one process that they needed to focus on is how they deal with employees. They have an Interim City Administrator and to bring in an 18-year trusted, truthful, loyal employee up to a public panel; he knew they had asked for it to be closed but still it is a public lashing. He stated in his opinion it is not a good way to deal with employee issues. Council are the boss and have both the obligation and the responsibility to treat their employees fairly and with respect and to call for dismissal for an item like this could have been handled a different way, not in this public realm but through the Interim City Administrator. He stated he understood the concerns they have with the process. He stated when he sent his email as a follow-up, he made it clear he was providing additional information because technically the email that was sent out by Administrative Services Director Lasher was correct. Mr. Korin was not selected that evening. That doesn't mean he wouldn't have been selected the next meeting of the Council, it didn't say he was totally eliminated from the process. It didn't preclude those rights of the Council to do that at a later time. He thought that was a misunderstanding, that was the case. That wasn't true. The email said he was not selected, it didn't say he was totally rejected from the process. He clarified that, rightfully, this needs to be cleared up with the applicant. They aren't booting him out, they are just saying they need to take more time, explore other options, get more information, and that was a legitimate misunderstanding of that email, noting in the hiring process the door is not closed on any applicant until the final hire is made. That is typically how it goes. He stated it is also not unusual to tell a candidate that they have not been selected to go forward at this time. With the key being "at this time"because often they will go back to a pool of candidates they have rejected and come back to them and hire them. He stated he was not at that meeting so he doesn't understand the dynamics but he did consult with the City Attorney and confirmed that no decision was made so he sent out the clarification memo. He stated it was the last memo he sent in his career at the City. He stated if they are going to focus on process, he suggested focusing on the process that they as employers, that trusted obligation to this great group of people that are actually loyal to the community, to the Council, know who their bosses are. He stated there is no question that the employees know who the bosses are, that is the Councilmembers. There is a strong obligation they have to treat employees fairly. He suggested they continue to do that and be tolerant and patient when they have the opportunity to do that. He wished Mr. Hagen the best of luck. He suggested they pull their team together because they need to work together to support each other and support the Ramsey employees who will serve them well. He stated they could get a high functioning organization but it will take some work. He stated this is a difficult process for Administrative Services Director Lasher to go through, the Council as well. Councilmember Howell stated she had asked that these text messages be sent out to the entire Council so they could review them. She had hoped that the Mayor, being the leader of our group, and the Chair, would take the lead on dealing with this situation and nothing happened. She reiterated they requested a closed meeting; the public meeting is the decision of the City Clerk which is her right. She suggested if Administrative Services Director Lasher was going to complain about a public meeting, that she not request one. She stated they have to address these issues because this is about having a good process in place to ensure this doesn't happen. This is City Council/May 24, 2022 Page 14 of 21