JOHN COFFELTEditor

In the latest in a discussion concerning a possible city manager hire that dates back in to the last administration, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen have asked the city attorney during the Nov. 7 work session to draw up a job description for a fourth option, a chief of staff position.

The board has kicked around the merits of hiring a city manager, a chief operating officer and a project manager, but so far could not fully agree on what would be the best fit for the city.

Near the end of the meeting, City Attorney Craig Johnson, hearing comments from the aldermen and department heads, suggested this latest option based on his experience in the military.

The position would be a liaison between the elected officials and the department heads. This person would not have supervisory duties, rather would be a resource, the go-to-person, for the city.

“I’m hearing that we don’t want another supervisor… (This could be) a more of a chief of staff role,” Johnson said. “They lead city-wide planning and support the operations of the departments and department heads.”

This is position would be a point of contact liaison for entities outside the city and within the city administration, without any supervisory duties.

“In the military, we call that person a chief of staff,” Johnson said.

BOMA does not have the ability to take action during a work session. Messick asked Johnson to write a job description for the position to bring back before the board at a later time.

Mayor Marilyn Howard said that overall, finding the right person will be more important than the list of duties on a job description.

Finance Director Lisa Myers said that department heads find it challenging on a daily basis to keep the seven members of BOMA up to date on the operation of the department.

“We would like to know what your visions are for each of our departments,” she said. “It’s team building; it’s leadership, consistency and vision. I think we lose a lot of time not having that set, that with that consistency (that a position would offer.”

Alderman Julie Anderson has supported a city manager that fits with the position laid out in in the city charter, while Aldermen Bob Bellamy, Donnie Parsley and Vice Mayor Mark Messick have been strongly opposed to a position with hiring/firing authority over city employees.

The consensus voiced among those aldermen is that they support leadership of the city department heads, and that historically, a position overseeing them undermines their leadership.

“That’s what we have department heads for. We don’t need someone looking over their shoulders…” Bellamy said. “(A chief operating officer) has no business supervising the Chief of Police … no business even running the dog catcher. They have a boss siting right out here. We’ve giving them a job, they are perfectly capable of doing their job, and what we need to do as a board is back these people and quit trying to micromanage them.”

“A good leader is going to surround himself with people who know what they’re doing an leave them alone,” he said.

A project manager would report to the mayor and would, as their title suggests, oversee the city’s large projects, along with writing grants. This position mirrors the contracted position that the city had in place for daily oversight of the Duck River crossing sewer project.

Messick early on supported with some reservations the idea of a project manager.

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.