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Jankowski: City Council must act quickly in light of Molino's resignation

By Mike Pettinella

"I wish Jason the best, but we can't waste any time (in finding a replacement) with all the projects we have going on." -- Eugene Jankowski, City Council president.

"Tompkins County's gain is our loss." -- Adam Tabelski, City Council member.

"He's coming over to the dark side!" -- Jay Gsell, Genesee County manager.

Those were the initial reactions from City of Batavia and Genesee County leaders to the news that Jason Molino, Batavia City manager for the past 11 years, has resigned to accept the position of Administrator for Tompkins County. Reports indicate that Molino will serve in his current post until the end of January, when he and his family will move to the Ithaca area.

(See press release from Tompkins County below).

Jankowski said he wishes Molino well, but admitted that he is "jealous of Tompkins County -- they're getting a good county manager."

He and Tableski credited Molino for creating Batavia's solid financial picture and for spearheading the many projects that have infused the city with federal and state money (specifically the $10 million DRI award) in recent years.

"I'm sad to see Jason leave; Tompkins County's gain is our loss," Tabelski said. "Jason has provided realiable leadership and continuity for over a decade, and is largely responsible for turning the finances around. It is readily apparent that he is respected inside the walls of City Hall, as he has done a great job of setting goals for the city and working collaboratively."

Both Jankowski and Tabelski said they weren't surprised by Molino's desire to advance -- the Tompkins County job comes with a much larger budget and hundreds more employees -- but would not say that stalled contract negotiations were the reason for his departure.

"I can only go by what Jason told me and he said that the last couple years were some of the best he ever had," Jankowski offered. "He never said, 'It's the way you treated me and I'm out of here.' I just think it is time for him to expand his wings."

As reported in The Batavian, Molino's salary of $93,782 was not increased by Council last month, but the two parties had been talking about a long-term contract. According to a story in the Ithaca Journal, the annual salary commanded by Tompkins County Administrators for a 40-hour workweek is $117,000. There is reason to believe that Molino's starting salary will be more than that.

Jankowski said that Council may put the search for an assistant manager on hold, instead ramping up its efforts to replace Molino.

"Speaking for myself, I think it may be best to hire a manager first, then wait until the new manager picks his or her assistant," he said. "Until then, the department heads can handle their own jobs. I've been through this before as a city employee, so we should be OK."

Jankowski said he also is "looking to the public to weigh in -- to let us know what our direction should be."

While joking that Molino is "coming over to the dark side," Gsell was serious when he said that Molino will "absolutely" do a great job for Tompkins County.

"Jason has been in New York State for a long time and he has experience in county government as an intern in Schenectady County," Gsell said. "Plus things are in good shape there (in Tompkins County), not like they were here when Jason came in."

Gsell said the biggest differences from city management to county administration focus on the social and human services programs, as well as Job Development, Office for the Aging, and overseeing a jail.

"Tompkins County has done a lot with consolidation under Joe Mareane, who was there for nine years and was well-respected," Gsell said. "Jason also has been involved with shared services, and this will help him."

Per Tompkins County's press release, Tompkins County began a national search for a new County Administrator in July, after former administrator Mareane announced his intent to retire. A diverse search committee comprised of county legislators, department heads, labor representatives, and community members narrowed a field of more than 20 applicants and conducted interviews. Three were recommended to the full County Legislature and were interviewed by all 14 members; new Legislators-elect observed and asked questions.

Molino could not be reached for comment this afternoon.

Mike Pettinella

Another thing to consider -- The City of Geneva is looking for a new manager, which will mean that Batavia will be in competition to find the best person. The fact that Molino is staying on until the end of January -- moving the budget process along, DRI, etc. -- will ensure a smoother transition.

Dec 19, 2017, 8:26am Permalink
Scott Chismar

I wish Mr. Molino well and success in his new gig. He seems to have done a great job and I am not sure his efforts were much appreciated by many. A position like his is tough and you can never make every one happy.

I do think there is a bigger picture here to recognize. While Mr. Molino was one of the lower paid amongst his peers throughout NY State, there were some who readily refered to him as over paid and others that did not wish to even give him a raise. There are many out there that constantly harp about cutting salaries and taxes and benefits. Some always think that any job can be done by someone else for a lesser pay. While this may be true, I can not help but think of the phrase "Be careful what you ask for because you just may get it".

I hope Batavia finds a replacement for Mr. Molino that will do a fantastic job. But please remember, you tend to get what you pay for. Let's get the best person we can get for the job, not the cheapest.

Dec 19, 2017, 6:55pm Permalink
Mike Pettinella

Excellent post, Scott. I can't help but think that Mr. Molino may have stayed in Batavia if he had received a decent raise, maybe to $110K (from the $94K he is making) -- with some incentives for future increases. It's going to cost the City a lot of money in job searches, hiring headhunters and possibly in OT or additional stipends for staff to fulfill additional responsibilities. In my opinion, Mr. Molino's efforts - combined with City Council's backing -- have substantially boosted Batavia's economic picture. I don't think a salary of $110K is out of line for a manager of his caliber -- and it's really a small percentage of the $25 million budget. Maybe, reducing the $75K salary for an assistant would make more sense.

Dec 19, 2017, 8:42pm Permalink
John Roach

Mike, if Molino had been willing to, he could have hired an Assistant Manager that also did the Community Development job. That would have saved us the $70,000 we now pay the BDC to do that job. But, he wanted a stand alone Assistant. That extra $70,000 could have gone towards pay raises.

Dec 20, 2017, 6:17am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Or the City Council could have directed Molino to make those arrangments.

It's kind of hard to argue that City Council should get credit for the good things while blaming Molino for just what you disagree with.

There's no letting the council off the hook for how they bungled their management of Molino. And we know which five council members to blame. Rose Mary Christian, Kathleen Briggs, Al McGinnis, Paul Viele and Robert Bialkowski.

Dec 20, 2017, 8:47am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Or the council could have directed such an arrangement ... see comment on other post.

Jeff wrote: "Too bad Gretchen didn't stick around"

Gee, it's almost like you've got to pay people competitive wages to get them to stick around.

Dec 20, 2017, 8:49am Permalink
Mike Pettinella

Yes, John, but ultimately it's City Council that calls the shots. But the bottom line is that Jason is now at $130K plus benefits in making an upward career move, and the City of Batavia is at a crossroads concerning its leadership compensation philosophy.

Dec 20, 2017, 9:01am Permalink
John Roach

Mike, it's what the market can bear. We are only 15,000 people here with a 22% poverty rate. The Genesee County Manager makes approx. $124,000 for 60,000+.

Dec 20, 2017, 10:58am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

"What the market can bear" is not an economics concept. It's a fable.

Economics is about supply and demand. It's competition for scarce resources. There are only so many quality executives in the market. There is a certain level of demand. That is what determines pricing.

With at least Geneva also in the market for a new City Manager, that's just going to drive up the cost of Batavia's next manager. If the next manager is any good, he or she will receive a wage significantly higher than Molino's, along with an assistant, and I'd question the competence of anyone who would settle for less.

If the council is incapable of understanding econ 101 in this regard, they're really not qualified to be making these decisions.

Dec 20, 2017, 11:23am Permalink
Mike Pettinella

I get John's point of view, however, Jason's body of work -- taking the City from a precarious position when he started, instituting policies and procedures to foster growth, and making a way for Batavia to receive millions of dollars in grants and awards -- must be taken into consideration, and be worth more than any pre-conceived "what the market can bear" salary. His performance earned him a raise (he didn't even get what was promised to him), IMO, a manager of his capability is more than a key employee; he is more of an "investment."

Dec 20, 2017, 11:49am Permalink
Brian Graz

I think it very premature to be making all these grand assessments. Let's see how well Molino does in his new position. If as others have remarked, that Jason is basically a conservative, pro-gun, small-town loving guy, it may even turn out to be interesting how long he lasts in Tompkins [a 2-1 progressive Democrat, downstate aligned county].

Dec 20, 2017, 2:05pm Permalink
Adam Tabelski

As Mr. Roach would know from helping to create it, the Charter establishes a strong manager-weak council form of government. The manager is the CEO (and CFO) of a $25 million operation with extensive responsibility, authority, and duties. He or she should be compensated accordingly, particularly when we are trying to retain or attract talent to the position.

It's a red herring to make a simple comparison between the City Manager and the County Manager's salary level based on the size of the community or budget and then do no further analysis. There are similarities but also many differences in the roles and organizations.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:00pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Premature? We have more than a decade of the man's work to assess and the assessment tilts heavily in his favor. He did a great job for Batavia, moving the city from near insolvency to a sound fiscal position with some solid accomplishments and several promising projects. He made several hard decisions over that time and had the courage of a true leader to stick to his decisions even in the face of harsh criticism. There's nothing premature about it.

Being a City Manager or a County Manager isn't a liberal/conservative thing. It's a non-political job. A municipal executive's political views are immaterial to the job to be done.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:00pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Howard. "... I'd question the competence of anyone who would settle for less."?

Why? Do you honestly believe that someone who "settled" for less might not be competent? There may be people out there that could be just as effective as Mr. Molino was/is, but, are willing to accept a lower salary, for a myriad of reasons - ie. Love of what they do, relocation to the Batavia area (or, remaining in the Batavia area), a chance to do something good for their community, an increase in their previous earnings, etc.

Being competent, and, asking for the most they believe they can make, don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. I realize "mo" money seems to be the driving factor for everyone, but, it really isn't.

And, it definitely isn't always the "road to happiness" that some people think it is. Trust me, I know from experience. In '99, I voluntarily left a job that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed, to take a similar job at another place. I did that because I was gaining a 22% increase in pay. I worked at the new place for 384 days - until they closed the plant for good. And, I hated that job from Day 1. In the 45 years of my adult working career, that was the ONLY job I ever hated. I spent almost 13 full months applying for employment at all kinds of places. And was even willing to take a pay cut, if that's what it took.

Money isn't everything! Enjoying what you do, is.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:07pm Permalink
John Roach

Adam, you're right, I do know that the Charter calls for a City Manager, but it does not call for a weak City Council. Some Council members may act weak, but that is not the way it is set up.

And I think compensation should be compared with others in the GLOW region. It is well known you supported his pay raise, and you did your best to get it for him. I, and others, thought the percentage was too much this year.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:08pm Permalink
John Roach

My own personal opinion is that if the DRI had come in the Summer, or the Mall legal case had been settled before the pay raise vote (and it still isn't) , it would have passed. Maybe not, but I think it would have.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:11pm Permalink
Adam Tabelski

Others in the GLOW region? There are no other cities in the GLOW region. Nor are there similarly sized/structured municipalities. Wouldn't it make more sense to compare Batavia to similarly-sized cities in Upstate NY?

Dec 20, 2017, 3:21pm Permalink
John Roach

Adam, you mean a small City of 15,000 and a projected 9% population decline and with a high poverty rate. One without a lake, big 4 year colleges or in a booming County?

Dec 20, 2017, 3:26pm Permalink
Adam Tabelski

Look around, John. Lots of Upstate NY cities are experiencing population decline and poverty. The census shows Batavia's poverty rate is 20.8%. Geneva (which has a lake, colleges, and is in a booming County) is 21.7%. Watertown is 24.1%. Others are lower.
In any event, I don't think it makes any sense for the poverty rate to be the ultimate organizing principal for setting municipal salaries.

Dec 20, 2017, 3:47pm Permalink
Adam Tabelski

To my earlier point about our strong manager system, Council will not make 2 new hires. We will make one, the manager. The manager then appoints/removes all other employees. Good day.

Dec 20, 2017, 4:13pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

In any business, there is a certain sense the available revenue helps determine what an employer can pay. And employers get priced out of hiring good employees all the time and sometimes they have to settle for what they can get.

I would love to hire a full-time reporter but I couldn't possibly get anybody good right now for what I could pay even if I could magically make minimum wage go away.

But we're not talking about a small business. We're talking about the top executive position in a municipal government. The compensation scale is only minimally set by the size of the government. Mostly its set by supply and demand.

We're talking about the top position in a government with a strong city manager, who appoints department heads, oversees a full-time fire department and police force, and manages a $25 million budget in a community that is struggling to dig out of an economic hole. I would hope we all agree the next city manager should be top-tier.

If you want to argue size of the city and poverty rate should determine the pay structure and not the competition of the marketplace, then you're arguing for a second- or third-tier choice.

Of course, we had a top-tier manager and the council dropped the ball on treating him professionally, so here we are -- looking at a bigger bill to replace him.

BTW: The DRI award was announced before the pay raise vote. As for the Mall, it was settled by then, too, at least in the council's eyes, since they had approved the settlement.

Dec 20, 2017, 4:20pm Permalink
Brian Graz

It's amazing... the Molino fan club here, and on the DN & Facebook are sounding like the Democrats over Hillary loosing... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dec 20, 2017, 8:10pm Permalink
John Roach

Brian, Jason Molino had a lot of very good friends around here and many saw how he was doing his job different than others. Why would you not think his supporters would not speak up for him. personally, while I don't agree, I am happy to see they spoke up.

Dec 20, 2017, 8:37pm Permalink
John Roach

Brian, because they gave their opinion why they think he did a good job as others gave theirs for why they are OK he is leaving (just as you did).

Dec 21, 2017, 5:54am Permalink
Brian Graz

A wise person once said "haste makes waste"... don't be deceived by a foolish call to "act quickly". Ed #15 makes some excellent points. I suggest that the new prospect be brought in on a temporary, or short term contract until their ability and competence can be assessed. How about hiring an interim manager?

Maybe it's time to switch to a mayor and then the citizens can chose via their vote.

Dec 21, 2017, 8:20pm Permalink

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