The departing manager, Doug Russell, was making $78,000.
Some have questioned why that is. I asked Patrick McDonald, who explained the city's position on that.
Basically, Archer was already making a nice salary. He was given a five percent raise, which brought him up to $90,000.
Russell had a lot less experience. He got a nice raise to come here, but because he lacked a lot of experience they started him at a lower rate than CM's of similar sized cities.
County administrator Leroy Alsup makes $90,000.
Russell got a raise to 78,000 this year - from $70,000 - and was in line to get another substantial raise next year. He would have been at $90,000 in a couple of years.
Archer has been here several years - 10 or more - and has been given raises all along. He was making nearly, or maybe even a little more, than Russell was. The co
Sounded reasonable to me.
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41 comments:
Yes that does make sense that he makes more since he has so much more experience. But I still wonder why he was not offered the job before when Freeland retired.
What exactly was Archer's job before becoming the City Manager, and who will they hire to do it now?
And if you say no one, then why were we paying two people to do one person's job?
What exactly was Archer's job before becoming the City Manager, and who will they hire to do it now?
And if you say no one, then why were we paying two people to do one person's job?
He was being groomed for the job.
I think there was just public sentiment that wanted change. It was in a sense a response to the public in regards to that wish.
Thats just my opinion.
Doug was very qualified. Steve Archer is too.
You couldn't go wrong with either one.
Archer was "director of administration."
His job was similar to that of Russell, but different as well.
Archer was heavily involved in financial matters, and with employees related to administration.
Russell was in charge of the entire city government.
To put it in sports lingo. Russell was the head coach. Archer was defensive coordinator.
Archer told me last week he would start looking for a replacement in the next few weeks.
THey do plan on filling his job.
I hope they continue to promote within, the city has alot of tallent that has not been used, we spend tons of money educateing these guys,, time for a return
How can Ark City claim to be an equal opportunity employer?
Promoting Archer to the position without evaluating any other applicants is preferentially discriminatory and not in line with the equal opportunity employment standards.
No promoting from within is totally legal, and is even a good business practice.
Besides, they went through plenty of applicants the first time around.
But when it involves promoting a Caucasian male in a position where there are no competing applicants, and making a habit and history of doing that (ie.: the police chief), then it is discriminatory.
The fact that there were other applicants in the previous hiring cycle is completely irrelevant because those were not considered this time. No consideration of comparative qualifications was made because no others were permitted to apply for the job.
It is one thing to open the job to applicants and then decide to promote from within because the promoted employee is the best choice, and quite another to decide that there will be no applicants because the current city employee will be given the job, based on a direct preference the City Commission has for him. That is discriminatory.
Is it legal? Depends. Is there a pattern? Yes there is. If there is a pattern, then it is discriminatory hiring practices and not in compliance with EOE.
Ive no idea how many applicants were minorities.
If you have someone who is qualified it just makes sense to move them up. I dont see anything wrong with that.
You could say the same thing at the paper, but I have never had an applicant who was a minority.
I would hire a minority group person without even giving it a thought if he or she were a good applicant.
Demographics are much different here. Just the labor pool you have to choose from makes a difference.
"Ive no idea how many applicants were minorities."
That's easy. There were none. There were no applicants considered at all. If you review the blog history, there s indication that Steve Archer was selected by Mell Kuhn even before the outgoing City Manager tendered his resignation.
The paper is different from a municipality.
Large corporations and cities open jobs to applicants and "also" consider applicants who would be promoted, just to avoid the possibility that there is an inside deal based on a personal connection between the "employer" and "employee". In this case Steve Archer is a city employee, not an employee of the City Commission, although they decide who is hired for the manager position.
Were the city hiring procedures followed in the City Manager hiring? How do city procedures address the issue of discrimination in a restricted job "opening" which has no possibility of minorities, or anyone else for that matter, applying for the position?
This is the top job in Arkansas City, a town that claims to be EOE and was restricted to only one person, with no competing hiring opportunities.
I think a good lawyer could have a field day with this one.
charles was not better qualifed than archer if that is what you are getting at. why waste a bunch of time when you are not going to be hired anyway?
Russell didn't get paid as much as Archer will be becasue he lacked experience?
But it wasn't like Russell just fell out of the sky to become city manager of Ark City. Wasn't he a city manager someplace else for 4 yrs?
Yea, a small town in wyoming i believe?
he wasn't anywhere for 4 yrs.is was his 3rd job in 5 yrs
yes why wasnt archer picked before then instead of doug russell. explain that one. gotta be some reason for the slight before but not this time. its a shame also that taxpayer money pays him so well while the general work force at the city is payed so low and he had a direct hand in reducing their benefits this year at a greater cost to them while they countinue to suffer low wages. didnt bother ol steve to do that but guess he realized what a sweet deal was ahead for him so why should he care. and there are women in the city who were there longer than steve that got NO chance at the job whatsoever. the city is very discrimatory to the females working there and it is close to getting them in trouble very soon. ask some of the ladies working there and see what they say. the public has no idea what goes on at city hall and what is being hidden from them. what a shame that our city treats the people who pay them so well like this. lying is not acceptable behavour and anyone doing so should be fired immediatly
I have always wondered why our city workers are paid so little. I have not done any research to confirm, but I've heard other cities in Kansas (even smaller ones) pay better than we do. It would be interesting to see a wage analysis done.
I've always thought that higher wages would just be returned to the city in one form or another. Also, it seems the city has a high turnover rate. Can anyone confirm?
Yup!!!
havent you noticed the citys nonstop ads in paper the last year or two. every since douggie came to town and along with sidekick stevie weevie the citys moral has plunged and employees are very unhappy. to save money douggie and stevie decided to hit the little guys on the ladder instead of trying to find other ways to save -they didnt even try- just started taking from the lowest paid. why? just because they can and they dont care as long as they do alright in the system they could care less about those below them. mr archer has demonstrated this over and over to many employees over the years you go to him to talk or assistance and he more or less lets you know he doesnt care and too bad. nobody likes to go to him anymore he is very unhelpful to employees hardly any employees wanted him in the city manager position and are sick about it and feel they along with the taxpayers were railroaded into this with no voice or choice. the city fills job openings any way they want to sometimes they say they have to post it then when they dont post it they say they dont have to they change the rules day to day to suit theirselves ask anyone who works there give it a few months and you will see he isnt any better than what we had and will prob be worse what a shame this town was forced into this situation with no say so whatsoever expcept for the jokers we call commisioners who are busy padding their nests also kuhn does about all the city work now go look for yourselves hes at almost every building doing something glad hes getting his money worth up there and him even being allowed to bid a job should be a conflict of interest for crying out loud ++they DO NOT ALLOW any city employees to run for or be a commisioner so why should he be a commisioner but also employed by the city????++ something is very terribly wrong at city hall and it is starting to stink real bad and the taxpayers need to wake up pay attention and start asking lots of questions they have to supply you with anything you request so go up and investigate your city is being run by higher ups allowed to do whatever they want on your dollar with no one questioning their actions what a sweet deal
Steve will be a strong advocate for the taxpayers.
Hey disgruntled city worker: suck it up.
You are here to serve us. Not the other way around. You should be thankful to have a job instead of biathching about your low pay. Go get a job somewhere else if you don't like it. There are plenty of employees who have been on the payroll for eons. They are talented and could get jobs elsewhere that would be rewarding and pay better. You know why they stay? Could it be loyalty, dedication, hard work, the ability to make a difference? Just because you don't have a work ethic of your own does not give you the right to poop in your own nest. I appreciate most of the hard working and dedicated employees of the city. I'd say 90% of them are a good bunch. That is better than you can say for most businesses.
PS I agree with you. The rank and file (who deserve it) should be paid more. But whining will get you nowhere.
PPS If we had someone recruiting industry to come in here, and we had better paying jobs all up and down the street, the average pay would go up for all employees.
PPS If we had someone recruiting industry to come in here, and we had better paying jobs all up and down the street, the average pay would go up for all employees.
I agree with you, but some city officials tend to disagree. They say that our labor pool is drained, and there is no need to bring in more jobs. They, instead, are worried about cleaning up the town (windows, etc.) to attract more potential employees. Personally, I believe cleaning the town will not do it! I believe the wages would have to increase before others will move here. Also, I believe that people ARE applying for the jobs. They just can not pass the drug test. Even though, there are those who claim we do not have a drug problem in AC.
We need better paying jobs.
There are plenty of low paying jobs out there.
I think the debate is not framed correctly.
It shouldn't be a question of whether to clean up the town or to attract jobs.
The question should be ... how do we do both at the same time?
We need better paying jobs.
There are plenty of low paying jobs out there.
I think the debate is not framed correctly.
It shouldn't be a question of whether to clean up the town or to attract jobs.
The question should be ... how do we do both at the same time?
both at the same time is key. Ask Kuhn what his plan is to clean up the drug problem.
JJ, I agree! You can not have one without the other.
Also, I WOULD be very interested to hear what Kuhn has planned.
city workers are not there to 'serve you'. they are there to perform a job and deserve decent pay to do so. its not right for the city managger at city hall to make sure he is paid good and taken care of while ignoring the regular employees. and for your info most of the employees around for 'ions' are now gone, many many have quit or retired early and many more are working on quitting. much is this is due to doug and steves 'new management style' which bombed horribly and turned a good place to work into a bad place to work. the loyalty and dedication are no more as it is no longer appreciated, ask any of gary baughers crew (the ones that are left taht is). as for the drug problem and people not passing the tests, most is due to marijuana usage and not other drugs. Marijuana is harmless and its amazing it is still not legal today. but most people love their alchol more, so it remains legal while they do cause harm to themselves, society, and the healthcare system. FYI methamphetimines and other hardcore drugs only stay in the system for a day or two, so it is easy for those people to pass drug tests, they just have to quit for a few days. marijuana stays in your system for up to 30 days, so those people cannot usually pass the tests. so most employers are hiring the hard core druggies anyway without knowing it and passing by the pot smokers who would be good workers, all the ones i know are good workers, some are even lawyers, doctors, and bankers in this town. this society is so ignorant or hung up on religion that they just cant see these things. too bad.
"You are here to serve us."
wow. can't believe someone actually thinks like that. What gall.
Rubbermaid does a hair test that catches the "hard core" drugs. Not sure about the other places. I will agree with you that alcohol is more damaging than pot, but I'm not sure legalizing another "gateway drug" would help our community or country.
I'm sure we'd all be a lot happier if we sat around all day smoking weed, but NOTHING WOULD EVER GET DONE! Ha-ha! :)
gateway drug???? u r another of those people who believe everything they throw at you. i dont even consider mary jane a drug, as I have never known anyone addicted to it, as they are with cigarettes and alcohol. but hey, thats okay, lets just let the drs prescribe zanzax and valium and oxys etc, cause i know way more people addicted to LEGAL drugs, they all get em at the local clinic here no problem, and according to those people its OKAY to be addicted if its legal, this society is so sad, everyone is on pills for something these days and dont question it as long as good ol doc says its good for em, good for the pharmacy companys and walmart and walgreens is the only ones i see
it all starts with bubble gum
is this the same Steve Archer always in the police notes?
Hey, I agree with you about prescription drugs. Also, it is true that mary jane is not physically addictive as are cigarettes and alcohol. However, I DO believe that someone high on pot is more likely to say "yes" to trying a stronger drug than someone who is sober and straight. This is why I consider it a gateway to worse things.
Oh, and this is a different Steve Archer.
Oh hogwash, the problem I see that is going on here is,
1. we all know that times are bad all over and it is natural for a mother in law to take care of her family and use her connections to keep up her reputation as long as she can.
2.The whole country is suffering from Bushonomics (ie: our local leaders and commisioners) We have people who want to do it just like old George W. right down to the end. And I mean both of them Bush boys, kill the working mans spirit and control your income byallowing cheap labor come in to compete ( both legal and illeagel)and then out source work to inmates from the pre-release. Since it seems they have the some of the longest tenure and have not and are not required to fill out an application for a job with the city.
3. The tlak going on here is for nothing unless someone calls EEOC or National Labor Board to see if the can do what they do or not. From my outlook if we let them tell you what they can do and not do, they run the show, but one thing for sure when you get someone from outside this county to call, write, answer a complaint these people jump to a different song!
Just keep these sort of topics in these city limits like what has been done for as long as I have known and you all will be saying the same thing in 20 years as you have said 40years ago.
YOU WANT CHANGE , YOU WANT TO LIVE HERE , BETTER GET HELP FROM SOME WHERE ELSE OTHER THAN CITY HALL
CAUSE MOST PEOPLE HERE DO NOT NOT FIAR OR EQUAL!!!!!
QUESTION who would you rather have running heavy equipment for your city, a man with a triple heart bypass and taken meds and a pacemaker to keep the ol'e ticker going or some one who smoked a little mary J and a good ticking heart??????????
I had a quadruple by-pass and feel thatI dould still do the job better than someone on wacky tabacky.
A man with a triple heart bypass is not breaking the law, and I would admire him for having the strength to go to work every day to pay the bills. However, those who are smoking pot are doing so illegaly. Unless you can get lawmakers to believe that your cause is one worth supporting and get the laws changed. Do they drug test for city jobs? If not, maybe they should start.
Everyone on here and other blogs like to point fingers at city officials for "playing dirty". A city worker high on weed while operating heavy equipment would be "playing dirty", in my opinion.
for your info, weed shows up in tests regardless of if you are 'on' it at the time or not. someone operating equipement could have done it two days before but it would show up if you tested them while working. didnt say its ok to work while 'on' it and its not okay- what is sad is you can do it while not working, on your OWN personal time, but it will show up on the tests even when you arent doing it and they still hold it against you. but, you can have all the loritab or depression meds u want in your system with a script. im gonna quit smokin pot and get a script for valium or zanax or somethin, then i can do it at work or wherever and even drive on em and i will be legal. nowdays they have a symptom and pill for everything so everyone can be legally high, how many people do u know who are NOT on depression meds versus those who ARE, and then theres the ADD and ADDH and whatever else excuse that you call it that everyone also seems to have, along with the twitching legs, cant sleep, cant this, cant that. no one seems to be able to live life without some kind of drug these days, but ya know its called life for a reason and never was meant to be sailed through every day with ease. to all of you on your dr prescribed downers and such, you are all just addicts also like the very people you put down on the non prescribed illegal drugs. u r no better so dont kid yourselves. pot is the LEAST of this societys drug problems regardless of what the DARE program says
when a city manager is appointed in this manner, how do the citizens of a town go about reversing it? do they have any power to do so? i would think so as it is their tax money paying the position. can the traveler or someone look into this? could someone at the state level help if they were called? is there anything on the internet? it just doesnt seem right that he was simply chosen, with no applications or anything. i dont want my representitives ANYWHERE in government chosen for me like this on my tax dollars. and it was all hush and secretive too, which wasnt fair to any of us.
The city does not have to have citizen input to hire a city manager.
Promoting from within is a good thing. Thats how it should be really.
Now they will have to do a search to find Archer's replacement.
In an ideal world, they would find someone that they could prepare to take over when Archer leaves.
Had they hired one of their old friends who had no connection to the city without going through the process, that would have been a problem.
But this is not an elected position.
As for the weed.
There are worse things.
Weed will show up in your blood or hair for 2 months or so. So you wouldnt hire someone who had smoked weed once a month, but then there is no test for the guy who drinks 10 cans of beer every night.
hmmmmmm
True, so true.
I can only say that we should all pray for one another, instead of pushing down on the 'low man'. I think everybody needs help now, and apparently jobs are scarce.
So, reach out and be a friend. I try to always.
p.s.
I use no drugs, illegal nor prescribed. I lean on the ONE who can help me. I pray for the alcoholic and the drug user. Not, because I look down on them. But it sure would be nice to see someone help their fellowman once in a while.
And, until you have walked in someone who leans on drugs (legal and illegal)and alcohol. Don't point your finger at them, pray for them instead.
I have never been drunk or tried an illegal drug, and I don't lean on mythical saviors for support.
If you know anyone who does, get them help immediately.
Or a bag of Doritos.
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