Council hires new city auditor
Though some on City Council remain uncomfortable with the salary figure, members voted 4-3 Monday night to approve the hiring of Andrea Butola as the new city auditor.
Members had balked at Butola’s counteroffer last week that included a $2,300 monthly stipend for up to six months while she tried to sell her house in Rhode Island. Talks last week between Butola, retiring City Auditor Margaret Krym and recruiting consultant H.D. Higginbotham convinced Butola to drop the monthly stipend request, but she held firm on the $140,000 starting salary plus relocation reimbursement up to $5,000.
Butola agreed on a start date of May 1.
With comparable salary information from around the state in hand, Mayor Marni Sawicki said the salary figure was now acceptable and suggestions to start the search over would wind up costing the city in the long run.
“There is not a large pool (candidates) for this position anyway,” Sawicki said. “We have to look at the assistant moving up to fill in for a month and that is probably $10,000 right there.”
Higginbotham agreed, saying in his experience a new search likely would not result in attracting many new candidates in quantity or quality and some of the same ones might reapply.
Councilmember Rick Williams said Butola’s education and experience led him to believe the salary is fair.
With Councilmember Marilyn Stout absent, council was split 4-3 on the choice.
Town hall meetings set
Councilmember Rana Erbrick an-nounced that she plans to move forward with scheduling individual town hall meetings in Council Chambers on the Mondays that council no longer has a meeting scheduled each month.
Town hall meetings were suggested as one way to expand the public’s access to elected officials since council decided last year to reduce the number of regular meetings to twice each month along with a third workshop meeting.
Erbrick bristled at the suggestion by the mayor that town hall meetings in chambers might be used by those running for office in an election year as a campaign opportunity.
“These meetings are meant to be a bridge to the community,” said Erbrick, who has announced her intention to run for mayor. “It’s an opportunity for all of us to have a chance to sit in a central location, no cameras or microphones. When the time comes, I will hold campaign events out in the community away from here.”
Councilmembers Richard Leon and Jessica Cosden defended Erbrick’s position and agreed to hold upcoming town hall meetings as well.
“Honestly, this came up because we cut our meetings,” said Cosden. “That is why I am supporting it and I am not running for anything.”
Leon signed up for the town hall on April 10, Erbrick in May and Cosden in June.
Other items
Council approved the purchase of property in Northwest Cape that the city will use as a boat ramp for governmental access only. The city owns 14 such boat ramps in 10 of the 18 freshwater canal systems and uses some private ramps for access to others. The ramps are used to collect water samples for testing.
The purchase also sparked a discussion of what it would take to make the boat ramps public. Staff responded that the permitting process is more thorough and complicated for public access ramps. Staff was then directed to look into the matter since the residents on freshwater canals are in need of boat ramp access in many areas.
Council approved a request by the Charter School System to enter into a lease agreement to provide more than 600 computers for use by third through eighth grade students. The best option according to the schools’ request is a three-year agreement with DDI Leasing at a cost of $54,357 per year.
Council’s next regular meeting is Monday, March 20.