Moving forward: 7 residents look to help pick next Marine City manager

Weeks after Marine City ousted its chief administrator, seven residents, including former elected and current board officials, have put their names in to help pick the next one.

One will be selected to join a three-member committee formed to tap a new city manager, joining Commissioners Brian Ross and Jacob Bryson in the effort.

The task to replace former city manager Holly Tatman, whose contract was terminated on Jan. 16 by city commissioners, also comes amid a divide in rhetoric between residents and officials since the decision last month.

But despite the controversy, some said they just want to help the city move forward.

“I just want to make sure we get somebody who is aware of really how to deal with proposals for funding and things like that and somebody who’s progressive in their thinking about where we can go with this great city,” said resident Graham Allan, an applicant who also currently chairs the city’s dangerous buildings board. “I love Marine City.”

Allan also serves on Marine City’s zoning board of appeals and planning commission.

Former mayor Cheryl Vercammen, James Turner, also a former commissioner, and residents Andrew Pakledinaz, Patricia May, Rudy Menchaca and Charles Becker also applied for the committee.

Three of them couldn’t be immediately reached for comment late last week. May couldn’t be reached in follow-up.

When asked about future steps, Vercammen, Allan, and Pakledinaz acknowledged the debate still bubbling up in local politics, though each differed in how they thought subject matter may factor into the manager search process.

“A lot of it, if I was on that committee, I would be listening to the kind of information the candidates put forward. I think that’s what’s critical — to listen to what they’re saying,” Allan said. “It’s not so much what I want, but the candidate.”

Pakledinaz, a newer resident who ran for City Commission last year, remains involved on multiple local boards. And having been exposed to how Tatman worked with city staff, he said that connection would be important in future administrators.

He also pointed to the emphasis on pursuing grant opportunities — like the push for the public marina and recreation projects under Tatman — citing it as something Marine City hasn’t taken advantage of in the past. “For a town like us, grant money is almost unparalleled,” he said.

Still, Pakledinaz pointed to something else needed in a new manager: Someone who can work independently of the commission.

“Although they have to report to the commission, if you get a weak city manager, then they sort of default to the commission on everything, and that’s really not their job. Their job is to manage the city independently,” he said. “The commission gets reports and gives guidance, but the nitty-gritty needs to be handled by the city manager. So, I’m afraid that if we don’t get a city manager that can handle that, we’re not going to make any progress.”

Commissioners have remained mum, despite some pushback from residents, on the reasoning for Tatman’s termination.

The action came on the heels of a push for Spark grant funds for park projects — Marine City fell short in the first of three rounds last week in the state program — and concerns over audit snafus late last year.

Commissioners drew focus to the latter during the Feb. 2 meeting, particularly the number of errors requiring corrective actions identified as higher than normal by the city’s independent auditor and accounts that were left unreconciled, and actuarial reports that weren’t made available in “sufficient time” for auditors.

Still, auditors also referenced the number of “hands on your accounting records” over the last couple of years between a turnover in city treasurer and the city’s use of an outside accounting firm. Multiple commissioners expressed support for the city’s current treasurer, who’s been in place since last summer, as she learns the municipal accounting system.

Moving forward, Vercammen, who didn’t seek re-election when her mayoral term ran out last fall, recalled working beside two city managers and serving on the committee that hired Tatman.

Both she and Pakledinaz said they heard about a concern among residents that a replacement candidate was already lined up, questioning some confidence in the process. But while Vercammen admitted she thought many residents “don’t like what happened to Holly,” she said the number of applicants looking to help pick her successor — a small role on a temporary body —  was “motivated by the love for our community.”

“That’s the whole point,” Vercammen said. “You want a city manager that can … move the city forward without any bias-ness. I’m kind of prejudiced because I thought Holly was doing a great job and to try and find somebody like her that works tirelessly — and I saw it firsthand — and is not going to be swayed by who sits on the commission and some of the negative speak that we have even on the county level.”

The City Commission meets at 7 p.m. on Thursday at city offices, 260 S. Parker St. The agenda can be found at https://www.cityofmarinecity.org.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Moving forward: 7 residents look to help pick next Marine City manager