Appointment ProcessCITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
Dennis M. Kissinger
City Manager
300 West Ash · P.O. Box 736
Salina, Kansas 67402-0736
Salina
TELEPHONE · (785) 309-5700
FAX · (785) 309-5711
TDD · (785) 309-5747
E-MAIL · dennis.kissinger~salina.or.q
WEBSITE · www.ci.salina.ks.us
CM MEMORANDUM - 03-07
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
City Commission
Dennis Kissinger, City Manager .,~--"~*-z~-'
August 8, 2003
Board and Commission Appointment Process
Arts & Humanities Commission - Enclosed with this memo is a copy of the
letter to Mayor Jilka from the Salina Arts & Humanities Commission. This
Board has a longstanding practice of reviewing Expression of Interest Forms
and submitting to the Mayor and City Commission suggestiOns for appointees
to the Arts & Humanities Commission. This practice is one that has been
viewed by various City Commissioners quite differently. Some
Commissioners believe the practice is inappropriate; others have supported
it. Very few of our other Boards provide this kind of input. There have been
times in the past where the Salina Airport Authority has suggested a
particular professional "fit" for their Board; e.g. an accountant or real estate
professional. Occasionally the Human Relations Commission will provide
input regarding who might best meet their diversity needs.
As a general rule I have discouraged our staff from doing this, except in
unusual cases. City staff should not be "leading" any of this Board
recommendation activity. However, as in the case with the Arts & Humanities
Commission, I am reluctant to tell Board Members they cannot provide their
input to you. However, I have made it clear to our staff and the citizens on
our Boards and Commissions that these are to be su.qqestions only. The
decision on appointees is clearly that of the Mayor, with both input and
concurrence of the rest of the City Commission. You as Governing Body
members may put as much or as little weight as you desire on their
suggestions to you. It is ultimately up to your good judgement as the elected
officials responsible for this task. The Arts & Humanities Commission is
somewhat different than some other Boards, e.g. Planning Commission;
Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, etc., in that a large portion of what
Memorandum 03-07
Page 2
they do is as a not-for-profit board, the Arts & Humanities Foundation,
involving fund-raising and other non-traditional city tasks.
I realize this is an uncomfortable area for some City Commissioners; it is for
me. However, there has not been a consensus among 'Commissioners on
this point. There does appear to be consensus that all parties know if input is
provided, it is not considered binding on the Mayor and City Commission.
Please feel free to let me know if you think this merits more formal public City
Commission discussion at a future Study Session or if you would like me to
handle this differently.
B.I.D. Board - This is one Board where the City Commission has only limited
appointment discretion under state law. They are expected to recommend
appointees. Rather than just making recommendations, our B.I.D. Board
does hold an election, allowing all fee paying B.I.D. businesses to select their
preference for both the B.I.D. and Salina Downtown, Inc. Board positions.
That election is nearly complete, and they will have the names of those
elected reported to us, prior to the August 25 Commission meeting
appointment date.
Limited Applicants - Unfortunately, some of our Boards have numerous
citizens interested in serving; others get very few. Citizen volunteers are far
more anxious to serve on the Planning Commission, Airport Authority Board,
the Library Board or the Parks.& Rec. Board than the Housing Authority or
the Disciplinary Advisory Board. At times there are such limited choices,
including possibly not enough to fill the vacancies that the Mayor or City
Manager may direct the staff to hold these Boards for another month so more
Expression of Interest Forms can be received. We'll let you know when this
occurs, and ask your assistance in "recruiting" applicants. We also have the
occasional problem of board positions requiring specific qualifications. For
example, we currently have a vacancy for the architect position on the
Building Advisory Board, but no architects have submitted an E.O.I. We'll put
the appointment on hold in these cases, but do need to find someone willing
to serve. Everyone is very busy, and many good Salina citizens are on
Memorandum 03-07
Page 3
various community or church boards. They're spread pretty thin in their
volunteer efforts. We just have to work through these temporary situations.
Disciplinary Advisory Board - I have put a temporary hold on this Board's
appointment process. We currently have five vacancies out of nine
members. This Board does not ever meet as a group, but our Personnel
Manual calls for three members to be "drawn" to serve as a hearing panel in
serious discipline case appeals by city employees. This will at a maximum
occur only once or twice per year, and in fact we have in the past gone
several years without a case.
It is important for us to have nine members available to randomly draw three
for a case. Right now we only have four E.O.l.'s, including one incumbent,
for the five open positions. Of concern also is that two of the citizens
interested are former city employees (both former mid-level supervisors).
Mike Morgan and I have discussed this and have serious concerns involving
former employees being in these positions. The D.A.B. is an important part
of our "due process" for employees who may be subject to dismissal,
demotion or other serious employment action. The D.A.B. panel is intended
to be unbiased citizens who are able to hear the full case, evaluate fairly
positions of both management and the employee involved, then make a
recommendation to the City Manager. It would seem to be illogical to appoint
any former city employees to these Board positions. There will always at
least be the perception of bias or conflict of interest, either perceived to be in
favor of department management or in favor of the city employe~,_, involved. In
the current circumstance both city retirees are good, ethical people, but we
don't think they can be as unbiased as a "non-affiliated" citizen. But with only
four applicants, and no official policy against former city employees serving
on the D.A.B., you would have no choice but to appoint them. I :suggest we
actively attempt to get more independent citizen Expressions of Interest in
order to fill our vacancies, and also bring back to you a Resolution clarifying
that current or former city employees shall not be eligible for D.A.B.
appointments. Salina clearly has enough people with a variety of
employment experience to serve well on this Board, and allowing us to avoid
the perception of having biased panel members in these very few but
Memorandum 03-07
Page 4
important cases. Our former employees can serve on any other city board or
commission as part of their interest in volunteering.
Thanks for your work on all of this. Give me a call if you'd like to discuss
anything in this memo.
Enclosure
CC:
Mike Morgan
Doug Gerber
Greg Bengtson
ARTS & HUMANITIES DEPT.
Barbara Koostra
Executive Director
211 W. Iron · P.O. Box 2181
Salina, Kansas 67402-2181
Salina
TELEPHONE · (785) 309-5770
FAX · (785) 826-7444
E-MAIL · sahcC, salina.orq
WEBSITE ° www.salinaarts.com
July 22, 2003
Mayor Alan Jilka
City of Salina
Box 736
Salina, KS 67402-0736
Dear Mayor Jilka,
To assist you in the selection of future Salina Arts and Humanities Commissioners, current
Commissioners have conferred to offer their candidate recommendations. Below please find a
summary of recent discussions and the specific names that have emerged. All will have current
expression of interest forms on file by July 31st.
The terms of three Commissioners expire in September. Jane AIsop agreed when appointed to
step away after the current term; she served during a time of heavy organizational transition.
Tom Gates cannot be reappointed as he has served two consecutive terms. Patrick Bihlmaier
will not be considered for reappointment because of his move out of Salina.
Peggy DeBey and Tom Claman have both expressed a strong desire to be reappointed.
In addition, the following recommendations reflect the Commissioners' desire for continued
diversity, gender balance, and a wide variety of community viewpoints and talents as expressed
by the SAHC's board composition "grid." Commissioners identify the individual strengths they
feel will enhance the organization and recommendations are considered using this input. To fill
the three vacant seats, proposed are Nancy Scanlan, Trent Davis and Dave Cooper.
Please let me know if you have questions or comments and thank you for considering these
suggestions.
Sincerely,
Barbara Koostr~
Director
CC:
City Commissioners Webb, Divine, Shadwick, Marrs
Dennis Kissinger, City Manager
Sydney Soderberg, SAHC Chair