Scio Township is exploring improving its day-to-day operations

Scio Township continue its search to fill the leadership/management void left inside township hall after former township manager Bryce Kelley retired at the end of 2019.

Since his retirement, the township did conduct a manager search and had someone in mind, but that never came about and then it moved on into the strange time of getting things done during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now the township shifted its path and will think about a having a township administrator rather than a manager.

However, they might also look to more than one person to help with the needs of the day-to-day operations inside township hall.

The township board by a 5 to 2 vote at its March 9 meeting made the decision to move ahead.

Going into the meeting, the proposed motion in the meeting packet stated if approved by the board, there would be the creation of the, “position of township administrator to be further defined in relationship to a management team consisting of that position together with the supervisor, clerk and treasurer. Prior to posting the position and recruiting applicants, the Board of Trustees will approve the position description. The hiring decision will be made by the Board of Trustees. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees approves up to $22,000 to conduct the search process.”

In the final vote, township supervisor Will Hathaway said that motion “was amended to make it clearer that there would be a process to define the position prior to launching a search. There was also an amendment to allow for the possibility for multiple positions rather than one.”

The votes against this motion came from clerk Jessica Flintoft and board trustee Kathleen Knol.

In addition to their dissent, there were at least 10 people who spoke during the meeting’s public comment portion that expressed concerns with the manager model with some of them citing issues they or others encountered with the previous manager.

Knol suggested they should have more discussions on the proposal. She also cited the public concerns when saying the manager model is risky when it comes to things like checks and balances.

Flintoft said she was against the proposal and thinks the manager model might lead to more power in the hands of one person rather than in the hands of the elected board and appointed professional staff.

A few meetings prior, Flintoft gave a presentation called: RESPONSIVE AND RELIABLE TOWNSHIP GOVERNANCE: AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE TOWNSHIP “MANAGER MODEL.”

The purpose of her presentation was, “to propose a better model for our governance ▪ To build upon what we’ve learned over the years—including from resident and employee criticism and praise ▪ To catch up to where we are as a community today—not who we were 30 years ago ▪ To meet the moment we are in—to proactively improve our local democratic governance.”

A big part of the presentation said the Township Board of Trustees administers the township activities—it’s governance and services with the board being composed of seven officers with four jobs: Supervisor, Clerk, Treasurer, and Trustee.

Her presentation said the township is also exploring creating roles such as Personnel Director, Finance Clerk, Administrative Services Director, and Environmental Sustainability Planner to help fill the day-to-day needs.

“There is nothing a Manager could/should do that they (elected officials) and professional staff cannot,” Flintoft’s presentation said.

In follow up after the meeting, Hathaway told The Sun Times News, “This continues to be a challenging decision for the township.”

“There are strong feelings about the prior township manager and the way in which he used his authority,” Hathaway said. “We heard this from a number of residents who spoke during public comments. We also heard this from several members of the board of trustees. We also heard questions about why this particular administrative structure is proposed and requests for more clarity about the position of township administrator. There was questioning of the need for both a full-time supervisor and a township administrator.”

He further said, “As I sought to explain in my cover page for the motion, I have heard these concerns and I am committed to a process through which we will redefine the role, responsibilities, and reporting relationships for this position. I proposed a process and timeline. I also proposed a new, different title, township administrator, to communicate that this position is different from before.”

The next steps are for a township committee to meet and draft job descriptions etc., including for the supervisor and township administrator, which will require the most work. Hathaway said the clerk and treasurer positions are already clearly defined by statute.

“Part of the challenge is that state law vests most of Township authority in the board of trustees as a whole,” Hathaway explained. “This means that creating these job descriptions necessitates a decision by the Board of Trustees to cede some of its collective authority to various individuals, for example, the supervisor and township administrator positions.”

In a message to the other board members in lead up to the March 9 meeting, Hathaway summed up much of his logic with, “My point is that we must acknowledge that the Township has been understaffed and that it needs reinforcing at the upper level in order to keep all of the administrative processes working smoothly. I am confident that the full-time supervisor, township administrator, executive team model I’ve proposed is the right framework to meet the challenges we currently face.”