- Ludlow elected officials expressed their reasoning for not casting a vote on a new city administrator appointment this week.
- Some council members felt they’d been left out of the hiring process, although the mayor insisted that was not their legally defined role.
- The council will revisit the issue at a future meeting.
The Ludlow City Council and Ludlow’s Mayor, Sarah Thompson, laid out their positions on the hiring process of Chris Courtney as a new city administrator at a special meeting Thursday night, a week after a motion to appoint Courtney failed to even get a second, never mind a vote.
“Sounds like we’re at a stalemate,” said Council Member Stephen Chapman, who made the motion to appoint Courtney last week.
No official action was taken at the meeting, but it served as a forum for the council members and the mayor to publicly explain the rationale for their actions, which had not occurred at the previous meeting.
Thompson emphasized that she followed the process of recruiting and appointing a city administrator as it is laid out in Kentucky law, which grants mayors in mayor-council governments like Ludlow’s leeway in hiring and firing city administrators. City council’s vote to affirm or deny appointments, but they have no explicit, legal responsibility in picking candidates, even if a mayor chooses to include them in the process as a matter of courtesy.
“I believe this delay is political,” Thompson said. “It slows progress and creates instability.”
Thompson argued that Courtney was well-qualified: He has a master’s degree in public administration and “he has direct municipal experience,” Thompson said. “He has budgeting, grant and economic development experience. He’s a strong communicator.”
What’s more, Thompson said, they were at risk of losing him. Union, where Courtney currently lives, will soon lose its city administrator, and conceivably, there would be nothing stopping him from applying there.
Courtney currently works for the Northern Kentucky Area Development District as its associate director of local government services, a department that directly aids cities in finding qualified administrators. Thompson said they were deliberately removed from the hiring process by the district to avoid conflicts of interest; if the area development district were involved, Courtney’s current employer would essentially be helping him find work elsewhere.
Council Member Julie Navarre was the first to voice her concerns.
“I question that the process was followed in its entirety,” Navarre said, pointing out that Courtney had actually met with city staff members on March 10 prior to the job posting going up on the city’s website and the website for the Kentucky League of Cities. Thompson confirmed with LINK nky that this meeting occurred.
“For me, this is not about the individual that’s being brought forward, and I don’t think hesitations make it political,” said Council Member Meagan Guthrie. “For me, this is about process and principle and public trust.”
“I would recommend that Ludlow pay the money and restart the search and do it through the (area development district),” Guthrie said later, “and I would really welcome the opportunity for Chris Courtney to reapply.”
Chapman was less committal than Guthrie and Navarre, although he said he believed Courtney was a good candidate.
“I think the difference here is that other mayors have done it in different ways,” Chapman said. “And you’re doing it the way the (state law) says, and that’s fine. But it’s stalled the process.”
Council Members Abigail Miller and Dave Ziegler did not attend the meeting. Council Member Paula Graszus attended the meeting but did not participate in the discussion.
The Ludlow City Council will revisit the appointment at a future meeting.