Former Delavan city manager in running for interim appointment
By Kellen Olshefski
Staff Writer
With vacancies in several administrative positions, the Village of Fontana Board is reviewing its options for the future.
During its Oct. 28 meeting, the board accepted Village Administer and Treasurer Kelly Hayden’s resignation, leaving the position open. Hayden submitted her letter of resignation Oct. 9 and her last date of full-time employment will be Dec. 7, in line with her 60-day calendar notice.
The board granted approval to Village Attorney Dale Thorpe to negotiate a contract with Hayden for administrative support during the transition.
As for how Hayden’s position will be filled, Trustee George Spadoni made two separate motions, both seconded by Trustee Pat Kenny, to fill the village administrator and trustee positions on an interim basis.
According to Village of Fontana Clerk Dennis Martin, at this point, everything is open ended and it is unclear as to what the board will consider going forward.
“Everything’s up in the air so we’ll see what happens next Monday,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “All we know for sure is they accepted Kelly’s resignation with regrets.
“It’s a transitional period, but the problem is there has been no exact transitional goal stated, like what are we working towards?”
The Village Board is slated to discuss the vacancies at its meeting on Nov. 11. The discussion will follow the village’s annual budget hearing, which is slated to begin at 6 p.m. at Village Hall, 175 Valley View Drive.
Martin said while some on the board want to move fast in filling vacant positions even without a transitional goal in place, it’s difficult to tell whether or not trustees will be on board with hiring interim personnel or leaving it to a committee to sort out how the village should proceed.
“Trustee Wilson and Trustee McGreevy are mainly the two that have said, hey, let’s just slow down and find out what we’re going to do first before we go and enter into a contract with a former administrator, tie ourselves into something and spend a lot of money when we may not necessarily need to,” he said.
According to Martin, officials clarified during the meeting the motions made were just to authorize Thorpe to meet with prospective interim candidates to come up with a preliminary proposal.
“This is by no means approving it and that’s why these motions got approved,” he said.
Martin noted the Oct. 28 meeting was the first time the board has met, in conjunction with the plan commission, since Hayden submitted her resignation letter.
Village Administrator
In regards to village administrator, Spadoni made a motion to direct Thorpe to preliminarily negotiate proposed contract terms with retired City of Delavan Administrator Joe Salitros for the village administrator position.
Martin said regardless of what is negotiated, it does not mean Salitros will necessarily be hired on as an interim administrator. Any contract negotiated would have to be brought back before the board for official approval.
“Officially, it isn’t a done deal,” he said.
Martin said during the Oct. 28 meeting, three trustees expressed opinions that the village really didn’t need an administrator, two remained neutral, and two were in favor.
“They don’t know what they want to do as a whole,” he said.
According to Martin, Trustees McGreevy and Cindy Wilson suggested the board doesn’t necessarily need to replace the administrator position, just reinstitute the treasurer.
“Some people said, well maybe you just need a village hall manager and just work with the existing committee structure,” he said.
Martin noted the village didn’t have an administrator position until it was created for Hayden’s predecessor.
In the end, the board voted in favor of allowing Thorpe to pursue preliminary contract negotiations with Salitros for the vacant position.
Village Treasurer
To fill the second half of Hayden’s position, Spadoni offered up a second motion to direct Thorpe to begin negotiating a proposed contract with Scott Vilona, who currently holds seats on both the Finance Committee and Plan Commission, to fill in as a short-term interim treasurer.
Martin said with Vilona’s positions on the committee and commission, if he were to be appointed to village treasurer, he would have to resign from both appointments, leaving the board two more positions to fill.
Martin said the board also discussed the possibility of cross-training staff and having them get their credentials. Martin said the board talked to him concerning the possibility of going back and getting his treasurer certification.
According to Martin, the treasurer position has to be filled in the long-term due to state statutes requiring village’s to have a designated village clerk and village treasurer.
“That’s a definite, we’re going to have to have a new village treasurer,” he said.
With this time of year being busy for a treasurer due to the annual budget, payroll, taxes and audits, according to Martin, Hayden has offered to assist the village with treasurer duties to get them through the year-end rush.
The motion to negotiate the contract was approved by the board and Thorpe is expected to bring back a contract for the board’s consideration at its Nov. 11 meeting.
