My wish for the New Year: Transparency at City Hall
If you didn’t read last week’s column, I recommend that you do because it’s the intro to this one. Honestly, I thought someone would set me straight with all the questions about the silence in city hall, but I heard from no one.
Last week, I complained that “we could go to the city’s webpage and copy the minutes from meetings of the City Council and subcommittees, the LRA, and the Commission on Disability. They are no longer published there.” I mentioned those three because I had recently checked to find out something and was disappointed there is no transparency for what they do.
Going further this time, it seems all minutes have been removed from the city’s webpage for all committees, subcommittees, and boards, even for previous years. Yes, we deserve to know what they are doing and have done in the past if we have questions.
Then, while watching the Personnel Committee meeting of the city council on Monday, November 25th (which I highly recommend watching), there were only two items to be discussed: Police Chief Position, Search Committee and Update, and Personnel Director Hiring Update.
City Council Vice President Stephany Infante, who chairs this committee, asked about the Personnel Director search. Mark Ianello, Chief Administrative and Finance Officer, responded that he had nothing to say.
Stephany insisted that there were two items on the agenda, and he should have been prepared to answer until he told the committee that he was told not to talk about it. They went back and forth until she inquired, “Who told you not to talk about it? The Administration? To this, he responded that it was the City Attorney.
Stephany held her anger and said this is the last blow she can take. She has been trying to work with this administration, but she is making it public because what she was asking were not personal questions about the former personnel director but general questions about the hiring process to find a new one. Mr. Ianello, the budget and finance director for the city, also acts as personnel director in the absence of someone new. Then, they tabled it.
Maybe now we know who’s pulling the strings at City Hall, I thought.
They went on to the police chief’s search, and the Chair was not pleased with the answers regarding the firm MGT Consulting from Tampa, Florida, hired to advertise the position.
Ianello claimed that the job posting was on the city’s website, but Stephany checked during the meeting, and it was not there. He expects the mayor to appoint the search committee by the middle of December, and they will begin the interview process in early January 2025.
Stephany was wise when she asked what happened to the people who applied online to be on that committee, and Ianello insisted no committee was formed. She pressed on what happened to those people who had shown interest in being part of the process, and he answered that the consultants would review that list to see what they wanted to see in a new police chief.
“That is not what was intended,” the Chair quickly reminded him. “The committee was selected to review the chosen candidates.”
True. I want to be on that committee and applied for it because we were told that we would review the resumes and interview each candidate until we selected the best one for Lawrence.
“I’m not aware of that!” That’s all Ianello could say.
He often said, “I don’t know,” to the point that Stephany called him on it.
Ana Levy wanted to know if the consultants would conduct a CORI check (Criminal Offender Record Information) on the candidates, and Ianello evaded the question. Upon her insistence, he said that perhaps our police department needs to do that—“I don’t know.”
The Chair tabled the issue but commented that she was very disappointed with this process. “The personnel director knew what the city wanted, and this would be a community-centric process. Now we are going backward to the way things were.” I took that as a jab at the mayor for having fired him.
So, in the end, we are still in the dark and have no transparency.
If you want to watch it, go to Lawrence City Council | Personnel & Budget and Finance Committee| November 25, 2024, 11-25-24. Don’t look for the Personnel Committee meeting only because they are together.
Things are heating up at City Hall
Yes, many things are going on that I cannot speak of now, but that gives me hope. All the silence surrounding everything makes me more curious, and I search further. My discovery has bright points, and the New Year will come with more surprises than you can imagine.
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