Palmer council begins search for new manager

PALMER — The countdown on Palmer City Manager Bill Allen’s tenure begins tonight.

In a 4-3 vote last month, Palmer City Council decided not to renew Allen’s contract, which expires in 147 days — Sept. 27. Tonight, the council meets to set search parameters for Allen’s replacement.

Described as a maverick who doesn’t let the grass grow under his feet, Allen’s production or ability to get things done was never an issue, said Councilman Richard Best.

Best, who was one of the votes to not renew Allen’s contract, said the city manager often moved too quickly on projects without enough input from the council or the public.

“I felt the direction of the city is going should be decided by the city council, not the city manager,” Best said. “He is to administer that direction. (Allen) is more of a visionary; I myself was looking for an administrator.”

The council’s decision to let Allen go also comes after an August 2009 performance review. In a closed-door meeting then, the council discussed concerns raised by Best about city credit card expenses and employee performance reports. Although the discussion was in an executive session, the council made a unanimous 7-0 vote of confidence in the manager following the review.

If Allen was taking too much control at City Hall, it’s partly because the council allowed him too, said Councilman Kevin Brown, one of the three votes to retain the manager.

“In many ways, Bill has been great for Palmer,” Brown said. “He used the connections they knew he had to bring attention to Palmer, businesses to Palmer and money to Palmer. He has also hired a fantastic staff. He has not been without controversy, but his strong suit is not public communication.”

For his part, Allen said following the council vote that he accepts the criticism the city is moving too fast, but that was what he hired to do — get things done.

“By god, they got what the wanted,” he said. “I’ve done everything the council has asked me to do, plus some. It’s probably the plus that got me in trouble.”

The challenge for Palmer now is to incorporate the kick-start Allen has given the city with the vision and direction the council wants to impart, Brown said.

“We need to be very careful in articulating what we’re looking for from the manager,” Brown said about the council. “The council simply decided to go in a different direction and wants to do everything possible to get as many people involved. There needs to be a lot more public participation, and the council also needs to be better about being the ones leading the community.”

That opinion is shared by Best, who said he wants the city council’s vision, not the manager’s, to guide Palmer.

“It’s council’s responsibility to express to whichever city manager its desires, its vision,” Best said.

He added that the rift that led to Allen’s contract not being renewed “might have been a fault of the council and city management in not sharing those visions with the community. … As a result, the community at large seemed to have gotten frustrated with different projects.”

Although council and Allen may not see eye-to-eye on specific projects, Brown and Best both said they respect the manager as a person of high integrity and as a Palmer resident. That’s why neither harbor any concerns that Allen would become a lame duck manager.

“I think Bill is a good quality individual who will keep his troops moving forward, and they will continue business as usual,” Best said.

And while the city will begin a search for a new manager, Brown said there are no plans to change Palmer’s form of government or expand the duties of the mayor.

“To change governmental form would require a vote of the people,” he said. “There is quite a bit of confusion in the community about that.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.