For the village administrator – a whole lot of respect
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
The East Troy Village Board voted Dec. 7 to give Eileen Suhm the title of village administrator. Suhm, who was the clerk-treasurer, has no new duties or pay with the title.
Village Board President Randy Timms said the issue was put on the agenda because Suhm had experienced some difficulties with “getting the respect in the business community” she needed to do her job.
Timms said the title of clerk-treasurer was viewed as “second rung on the ladder” when in fact Suhm was the first rung on the ladder in the village and he felt her title should reflect that.
Trustee Dusty Stanford said he was almost “afraid to speak up” out of respect for the job Suhm was doing, but questioned the need for the change in title, saying he didn’t see that it would “make that big of a difference.”
Trustee Ann Zess said she thought it was a bigger deal for Suhm than it would be for the board members and said she supported the title change.
Trustee Linda Kaplan said as long as the job description remained the same she didn’t have a problem with the title change either.
Timms gave some examples where he, as Village Board president, had to step in and make calls to consultants and/or businesses the village was working with to get information Suhm had been unable to obtain because he had more “pull” with his title.
Trustee Forty Renucci questioned as to why the change was being done now and reminded the board that they had eliminated the position two years ago when then administrator Judy Weter was let go.
Weter’s job was eliminated in November of 2013 as a cost-cutting measure and Suhm was made the clerk-treasurer to assume most of the duties Weter held. Suhm received a raise at that time to about $60,000 a year. Suhm’s former wage was about $46,000 annually in her former position and Weter’s salary was in the range of about $86,000 a year. The move saved the village about $72,000 a year when employee benefits were factored in.
When Weter was let go, one of the responsibilities that didn’t go to Suhm was the management of the other department heads in the village, the police chief and director of public works. The Village Board had removed those responsibilities from Weter in 2012 and reverted back to the organizational structure where each department head reported to the board individually. Timms said when Weter was let go the board agreed that decision was going to be permanent and 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.
But over the past two years, Timms said Dec. 7 it had become clear Suhm needed the title to do her job effectively.
Trustee Scott Seager said he understood the need and giving Suhm the village administrator title made sense.
“Eileen is really the day-to-day operations in the village,” Seager said.
Stanford then asked Suhm directly if she had experienced problems, saying he was rethinking his position.
Suhm said that while she didn’t care what her title was, and never had, she was running into problems with businesses and even village contractors answering her questions and fulfilling information requests.
Standford then retracted his early comments and changed his stance, saying Suhm’s comments swayed him and he was in support of the title change.
The board voted 6-1 in favor of giving Suhm the title of village administrator, with Renucci the only trustee voting no.
