Times Herald (Port Huron, Michigan)
BYLINE: By, AMY BIOLCHINI
2/17/2012
ST. CLAIR — With City Superintendent Scott Adkins heading to a new job with Roseville in two weeks, the city council will have to act swiftly to replace him.
Adkins said he submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday to Mayor Bill Cedar Jr. If the council accepts his letter, Adkins’ last day will be March 1.
The Roseville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Adkins as city manager with a one-year, $94,000 contract. Adkins said he’ll start March 6.
Adkins said he asked for a one-year contract with Roseville so both parties could evaluate if they were a “good fit” for each other.
He said he has created a list of transition items he plans to discuss with St. Clair department heads and council members.
“It’s up to the council to fill the (city superintendent) vacancy in the interim and long term,” Adkins said. “… I’m going to do whatever I can until the last day that I’m working for the city.”
One of the things Adkins was working on was bidding out city services, per the council’s request.
Adkins said he started searching for a job in another city because of the council’s openness to privatizing city services. He said he didn’t want to wait for the council to put his job out to bid as well. He’s served St. Clair since 2006 as superintendent and makes $81,177 per year.
The next St. Clair City Council meeting is 7 p.m. Monday. Cedar said the council members likely will discuss the superintendent job.
Adkins’ contract with St. Clair was to expire in mid-2013. There is a clause in the contract that allows him to submit a resignation and attempt to give 30 days notice, but it isn’t mandatory, Adkins said. If the council fires Adkins, the contract states the city must pay him a six-month severance package, he said.
St. Clair City Clerk Janice Winn said the council has directed her to assume some of the superintendent’s duties for an interim period when past superintendents have left.
The Michigan Municipal League has a list of qualified people who can serve as interim city managers, Adkins said.
He said he notified the mayor and some members of the council more than 30 days ago he was seeking employment elsewhere. Adkins also applied for the city manager position in Algonac on Jan. 31 and was offered the job, as Algonac City Manager Karl Tomion is retiring March 11.
Algonac City Council voted Feb. 7 to accept resumes for the position.
According to a schedule set by the Michigan Municipal League, it will take about 10 weeks before Algonac is ready to make an offer to a new city manager.
Tomion said he’s trying to expedite the process, and has already received some resumes. He makes $72,000 per year.
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
Copyright 2012 Times Herald
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