Rutherford eyes long-term city planning
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?I?m not coming here to retire,? said Rutherford. ?What you need to ask yourselves is what you want. If you want a city administrator and a planner, then I?m the one. I would like to help this city with a one, three, five and 10-year plan.?
During the interview, several questions were asked by Mayor Davenport. Most of the questions were about his expectations concerning the position, if he were to receive it.
?Do you have any business that would share your attention with the city of McMinnville?? Davenport asked.
?I do consulting work on the side,? said Rutherford. ?In other places I?ve worked, it has been in my contract I can do consulting work with the approval of the board, as long as there is no conflict and appears to be no conflict. I do that because the places I work are not able to pay the salary my education and experience requires. I supplement my salary by consulting. The consulting will be on my time, during my vacation.?
After that question, the remaining questions were mostly about how he would react to situations that may arise in the city.
Rutherford said he doesn?t like to fire department heads. ?But I will do it again if I have to,? he said. ?I would rather work with a department head and try to fix the problem than fire someone who just might be having one bad day out of years of good service.?
Could he handle not being liked by everyone?
?My job is to implement the policy that you set. Nobody likes that job,? Rutherford said. ?Sometimes I wonder why I do it. You are never going to please the majority of people, but hopefully I can please the majority of you folks.?
After starting work full time, how long would it be before he reorganized the departments?
?I would spent at least six months studying the departments and then decide if reorganizations are necessary,? said Rutherford. ?I?m not a big believer in coming in and doing that. I would at least like to spent time with the department heads. I don?t plan on reorganizing any department.?
Could he handle the media featuring him in a bad light?
?I would rather not be in the paper,? said Rutherford. ?I don?t think anyone wants to be in the paper. It goes with the territory though.?
Rutherford said he is well impressed with two things about McMinnville ? its revitalization of downtown, and its parks and recreation facilities. He even called the Civic Center ?amazing.?
Keeping the improvements going is what Rutherford plans to do if he gets the job.
?I think you have a lot of potential in this area,? he said. ?Too much potential to not take advantage of it.?
Knowing that there is one more candidate in the running, Rutherford showed his good nature about the situation, which caused some laughter from city officials.
?If I don?t get the position, I?ll just say I wore the wrong tie. I know at this point it?s more like a beauty contest. I hope everyone likes my hair.?
Friday was spent with Rutherford touring all the city departments and getting to know Davenport and the aldermen. After what was termed as a whirlwind day by elected officials, Rutherford will have to wait until the city has interviewed the next city administrator hopeful, David F. Jakubiak. That interview is scheduled for tomorrow at 5 p.m. at city hall.