Will Rutherford’s contract be renewed?

Will McMinnville city administrator David Rutherford’s contract be renewed? With his first annual review approaching, city aldermen will soon be asked to decide if they want to renew his contract for another year.

On April 3, 2007, city officials agreed to hire Rutherford as city administrator. In that position he would be expected to, among other things, perform duties assigned to him by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and make recommendations once all the information had been gathered.

However, if the board does not pursue the issue once Rutherford has gathered all the information, aldermen cannot factor this into his job performance.

As agreed upon one year ago, the board would present him with a list of specific goals they would like him to accomplish. Although the list never came, he did receive one list generated by Alderman Bobby Kirby:

‘ Restore employee cost-of-living increase to budget ‘ The cost-of-living increase was added to the 2007-08 city budget without causing a tax increase.

‘ Review and update step increase chart, as several employees have topped out ‘ A new Compensation Classification Plan was generated.

‘ Proceed and complete phase II of the downtown revitalization plan and provide funding ‘ This is still a work in progress. Within a month, Rutherford expects to present the board with all the information necessary to make a final decision.

‘ Phase II of the Barren Fork Greenway project ‘ Although the loss of a $1.5 million grant happened in 2006 before Rutherford began his job as city administrator, he did make attempts to get the grant back.

Because the retrieval attempt failed and the state denied the grant twice, Rutherford made the decision to hold off and check into what the city could do differently to make the next grant application successful.

‘ Annexation of Newtown area with study on funding sewer extension ‘ The annexation of Newtown moved forward. Grinder pumps, with funding, can now be used to get sewer to places the city couldn’t reach previously.

‘ Prepare 2007-08 budget without a tax increase ‘ One without a tax increase was submitted by Rutherford. However, a 7-cent tax increase was added to fund installing a geothermal heating and cooling system at McMinnville Civic Center.

‘ Study cost and funding of widening N. Chancery Street ‘ Last month, ‘improvements by special assessment’ was presented to the board and discussed with property owners earlier this month.

‘ Review all employee health insurance and employee benefits, with employee input ‘ That was done when the new Compensation Classification Plan was generated.

‘ Study ways to better support and do business with local companies (i.e. health insurance and current city telephone/Internet provider) ‘ Despite the hunt for local companies, the city must get competitive prices and go with lowest but best price.

‘ Identify and study possible areas for future, city industrial land or industrial park ‘ According to Rutherford he has something in the works right now. However, he is ‘not at liberty to say’ on specifics regarding those plans.

‘ Study ways of being more proactive with local business development and development incentives ‘ The Buxton study will identify three specific sites in McMinnville and a list of 20 contacts for businesses that might be interested in those sites in order to draw new business into the area.

‘ Community involvement and input on city issues ‘ Rutherford arranged for the planning sessions, usually held outside Warren County, to be held in McMinnville, so people could attend. Also held were public meetings to discuss planning session items with the community.

‘ Better involvement with the Industrial Development Board and county for job growth and economic development ‘ The Buxton and public relations studies are programs to help in these areas.

Along with these assigned objectives and goals generated by Kirby, Rutherford generated his own ‘Top 10 City Initiatives’ list of projects he has worked on in the last year:

‘ Studying annexation options

‘ Low pressure sewer system program

‘ Get Fit McMinnville with Employee Wellness Program and Community Wellness Program

‘ Three Star Program with chamber/city/county

‘ Historic Zoning Ad Hoc Committee

‘ Reviewing program for phase II downtown and North Chancery Street

‘ Indoor aquatic center

‘ Geothermal system at the Civic Center

‘ Moving to new city hall

‘ Filled The Hole downtown

Of the top 10, the only one he pursued without direction or input from the board was filling the hole. After being directed to by Rutherford, Public Works filled the hole and Urban Forestry placed sod in September 2007.

Once that evaluation is complete, the board must vote to renew the agreement between the city and Rutherford. If the board does not renew the agreement, he may serve as an at-will employee.

Should Rutherford be terminated for any reason other than his failure to perform his duties as agreed, willful misconduct, or his conviction of an illegal act, he will get a severance package ‘ six months pay, any accrued unused annual leave, and COBRA coverage for health insurance for up to six months.

Within the next few weeks, the board will evaluate Rutherford.