Village Board votes to eliminate village administrator position
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The East Troy Village Board eliminated the position of village administrator at its Nov. 4 meeting, putting longtime staffer Judy Weter out of a job.
According to Village President Randy Timms, the decision to do away with the position was a cost-cutting measure.
“Obviously, things are very expensive these days and we ultimately determined the role of administration wasn’t very appropriate for the village any longer that it wasn’t a needed position,” he said.
Timms said Eileen Suhm, former deputy clerk-treasurer with the village, was promoted to acting clerk-treasurer. Suhm will be making about $60,000 a year. Suhm’s former wage was about $46,000 annually in her former position, according to Timms and Weter’s salary was in the range of about $86,000 a year.
“The immediate savings to the village is around $72,000 plus the costs attributed to benefits,” said Timms.
According to Timms, the possibility of eliminating the administrator position has been on table for a while.
“We removed the two other department heads (Department of Public Works and Police Department) that reported to Judy in 2012,” he said. “And that was the beginning of the organizational changes when the board elected to revert back to the previous structure where all department heads reported directly to the board. In early 2013 we recognized that it was going to remain permanent.”
According to Timms, the board decided the village didn’t need that level of skill an administrator provides anymore and since the state doesn’t require the village to have an administrator, it seemed a good way to keep costs down.
“The Village Board has been searching for ways in which to reduce costs and streamline our organizational structure,” Timms stated in a press release. “After nearly two years of discussions and some organizational modifications, it became clear the role of administrator was no longer necessary for the effective running of the offices.
“We wish Judy well in whatever role she chooses to pursue and thank her for many years of faithful service.”
