HOPE — Hope Town Council members will be asked Tuesday to approve a search effort for a new town manager.
According to the agenda, the proposal will be brought up near the end of Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. meeting by council President Jerry Bragg.
Like a mayor, a town manager is essentially the chief administrative officer of community government. But unlike a mayor, the manager is a municipal employee who serves at the pleasure of the town council.
The northeast Bartholomew County community of 2,200 residents has been without a town manager since Dec. 18, 2018. That was when the five-member town council voted 3-2 not to renew J.T. Doane’s contract after he spent nearly two-and-a-half years overseeing and managing the town’s day-to-day operations.
In January, 2019, two of the five council members stated they didn’t want a successor for Doane. Instead, Ohmer Miller proposed that an administrative assistant be hired instead, while Nellie Meek suggested an office clerk as an alternative.
While council member Ed Johnson said he was willing to discuss the hiring of a town manager at a later date, the matter was never placed on the council’s agenda nor brought up during a public meeting — until now.
Although Bragg and council member Clyde Compton have long supported hiring another town manager, they never brought up the matter because they knew they didn’t have the votes, Compton said.
But the balance of power was changed when Republican John Walstad defeated Meek in November. Now, three of the five council members support hiring a town manager, which provided council president Bragg the incentive to put the matter on Tuesday’s agenda, Compton said.
There are two municipal administrators who have been asking for a town manager because they are now dealing with responsibilities that are not within their skill set or job description, he said.
One of the town manager’s most important duties is to promote economic development. By bringing a full-time town manager on board now, rather than waiting until after the pandemic subsides, Hope will have a head-start in their efforts to recruit new businesses and attractions to the town, Compton said. It’s best that these efforts take place now after nearly a million dollars was spent on commercial, recreational and infrastructure upgrades, he said.
“There is not one of us who sits on that council that has the ability to bring in industry or businesses — including myself,” Compton said. “Whenever something is brought up, we react to it. But we aren’t progressive and we don’t pursue all available opportunities.”
Many have forgotten that when Melina Fox served as town manager from 2015 to early 2016, she was largely responsible for getting Hope into the Indiana Main Street program, Compton said. He also credited Doane for attracting both the Hope Pharmacy and Studebaker International to the community.
Tuesday’s council meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be available for viewing through Facebook Live on the Town of Hope’s Facebook page.
