After Council President Eugene Jankowski and councilpersons-at-Large Adam Tabelski and Robert Bialkowski spoke about the process -- outlining their extensive interviewing, background checks and objectivity, Christian jumped in, first criticizing the Novak Consulting Group and then her three colleagues.
“I thought the Novak Consulting Group did a lousy, lousy job,” she said. “I had asked how many resumes came in and I was told 20 to 25. And from that five were chosen, one was sick, the other had personal problems, and the third person picked another municipality. All we had was two people to interview.”
Christian also said that there were travel and training expenses as a result of the contract with Novak that she wasn’t aware of and added that she had hoped a current city employee (“an assistant”) would have applied for the job because “the salary ($110,000) was a big challenge for me.”
“I told you guys that I wasn’t going to vote for it. It won’t be unanimous; you’ll have eight yesses and my no.”
All three members of the steering committee responded to Christian’s comments.
“Everyone is entitled to a vote, but to insinuate that Novak was not truthful to us … is very misleading. Novak did a good job,” Tabelski said.
“We received three dozen, not 20, applications and eight to 10 candidates made it to the initial vetting. We then whittled the list down. It’s not the quantity of applicants, but the quality, and we have that.”
Bialkowski agreed, stating that Novak did a “stellar job.”
“They gave us the 10 best and we went from there,” he said.
Jankowski addressed the contract with Novak, noting that “it was all there in the open and you should read the whole packet before you vote on it.”
He then called out Christian (but not by name) for leaving an interview session early.
“I would think you would stay for the whole meeting and not leave for your other job," Jankowski said. "You wouldn’t say 'I don’t have time for this; I have to go to work.' This is one of the most important things that we do.”
Christian took the floor again, saying that she was told there were 20 to 25 applicants and clarifying to say she meant just travel expenses, not training.
It was then she called Jankowski, Tabelski and Bialkowski “the Three Stooges and Frick, Frack and Frank,” or something close to that.
Council Member Al McGinnis defended the trio – “You three did an outstanding job” – and Bialkowski responded, “You don’t resort to name-calling. That’s about as childish as you can get.”
After that, Council voted 9-0 to move the measure to a vote. The decision in favor of Moore was 8-1, with Christian casting the lone “no” vote.
Following the meeting, Jankowski explained why Moore, city manager of Eunice, N.M., for the past seven years, was the last man standing.
“We looked at many applicants and Dr. Moore rose to the top based on his educational level, his experience level, his personality and his experience in his present job,” he said. “He did really well in the interview. Most of Council really found him very favorable, and he just really rose to the top very quickly.”
Jankowski said although Moore is coming from a smaller community, he does have a “lot of education and a lot of background, and he has experience in other communities in his earlier career.
“He went through some really tough times in Eunice, N.M., where they had a serious income (problem) based on the oil industry. Some things dropped off from underneath them, their budget was cut dramatically. He was able to work through that, which I thought, with some very innovative ideas.
“It minimized any loss of jobs, and they were able to keep services continuing even though they took a big hit on their community income. That was very impressive. I liked that thought process and how he was able to handle that.”
Jankowski said that experience gave Moore “a good education” and made him a good fit for Batavia.
“We (Batavia) kind of went through something similar ourselves … and he knew all about that. He had done some research on us as well. I think he found other projects that are going on presently as a very big challenge, and he likes that challenge. And I think he’s going to do very well here.”
As far as Christian’s remarks are concerned, Jankowski said he found it “kind of odd, the combative nature of that whole exchange, and I agree with Councilman Bialkowski when he said that we really shouldn’t (resort to) name-calling.”
In a related matter, Jankowski suggested that the City continue to provide a stipend through the end of the year to the handful of city employees who have been doing extra work since Molino’s departure, including Interim City Manager Matt Worth.
Moore begins his tenure as the City’s manager on Oct. 15.
