After a recent workshop in which Milford City Council discussed the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), Mayor Todd Culotta called for an adjournment to Executive Session for a special meeting. When asked by Councilman Dan Marabello what the purpose of the meeting was, he replied it was to discuss the city manager hiring process. Before the meeting began, after a comment made that could not be deciphered by Coucilwoman Lori Connor, but which appeared to request Solicitor David Rutt be excluded from the meeting, Councilwoman Nadia Zychal made a motion that Rutt be present in the meeting. Culotta took a roll call vote on the motion.
“No, because one of the topics I would like to discuss has to do with his service to the city,” Connor, who ran her council campaign on transparency last year, said.
Zychal voted yes as she felt his advice from an attorney to council was crucial.
“I vote no, because I feel there are some things council needs to discuss among themselves,” Councilwoman Madula Kalesis said.
Councilman Dan Marabello voted yes as he agreed with Zychal. Councilman Michael Stewart paused for several seconds before casting his vote, stating that he voted no if there was something that pertained to Rutt directly in executive session. Councilwoman Nirmala Samaroo voted yes as she felt it was important that council have someone there for guidance.
“I vote yes because my understanding of this executive session is to discuss the the city manager’s review and replacement process is what I thought this was for,” Councilman Jason James said.
Councilwoman Katrina Wilson was adamant about having Rutt in attendance.
“I vote yes because I thought the discussion was for our hiring process for the city manager and I feel more comfortable having our solicitor there to guide us if we do derail in any way,” Wilson said. “I feel really adamant about him being there because we have been, maybe not you, whoever y’all are, but I have been in situations where we’ve been thrown under the bus. I never want to go there again. Therefore, I want the city solicitor to be in every meeting to make sure that we are well represented and we never go there again. It is that important that we always have a city solicitor present in our meetings.”
Wilson continued.
“And we should not be discussing anything about him when it is in reference to the city manager position,” she stated.
Connor spoke up to say that the matter was about the city manager position.
“It’s his part in how this process derailed,” Connor said.
Council did not reveal what caused the city manager search to derail or why it was necessary to exclude Rutt from the discussion. Delaware does not require a city council to have a solicitor present during every executive session, but it is strongly recommended as the presence of an attorney ensures compliance with the law and protects council from litigation.
At the council meeting immediately following the workshop, after executive session, James made a motion that all motions and votes after March 24 related to the city manager recruitment and vote be rescinded. The motion passed unanimously. After voting yes, Connor requested that City Clerk Katrina Wilson read her motion from March 24.
“I’d like to make a motion to rescind the motion from March 20 and have the recruiter reevaluate the most current documents for candidates one, two, three and four and then for any candidates that are determined to meet all qualifications return for a second round of interviews with council and city department panel and have the recruiter prepare our documents and to oversee the process and kind of lead the way,” Wilson read. “I amend my prior motion that we rescind all three motions from March 20.”
The motion made by Connor was approved unanimously. There was additional discussion about who would lead the process, and it was determined the HR department would take the lead. The discussion, although veiled, indicated there was some controversy regarding the hiring of replacement for Mark Whitfield who planned to retire the end of May.
Earlier in the same meeting, Rutt requested not to be appointed solicitor at the reorganization meeting planned for May 5, telling council he would remain in an interim capacity until a solicitor could be found to replace him. In Rutt’s statement, he reminded council that they had talented, knowledgeable staff that they should listen to when making decisions, further indicating rifts behind closed doors. Culotta, Kalesis, Connor and Stewart ran on a platform of transparency, claiming previous council conducted business out of the view of the public. Culotta has often stated after taking office that he ran on “transparency,” yet did not speak out against excluding Rutt from the session.
On May 1, council held interviews with the final candidates in executive session. Marabello made a motion that the position of city manager be offered to candidate two. The motion was approved with a vote of seven to one with Kalesis the only no vote. Whitfield stated that he and the recruiter could arrange contracts, but council had to set a salary range.
Connor made a motion that if candidate two were to decline the offer or they could not come to an agreement, they would offer the position to candidate one. The motion passed with a vote of seven to one with Zychal the only no vote.
Stewart asked if there was a time limit for when the candidate would have to accept and Rutt stated that there was no rule on how long they could take to decide. Stewart made a motion that the candidate be given no more than seven business days to accept the offer, which meant the candidate had until May 12 to accept.
Council then began discussing the salary for the new manager and whether a counteroffer would be accepted. Connor made a motion to start with a salary of $170,000 and the motion was defeated five to three with Connor, Stewart and Kalesis voting yes. James made a motion that Whitfield and the recruiter negotiate a contract with a starting salary of $180,000. The motion passed unanimously.
