The City of Indianola has been actively searching for a city clerk to manage essential municipal operations, including overseeing the city's water department and managing payments, accounts receivable and accounts payable.
But that position will apparently go unfilled a bit longer than planned.
The board met twice before, once without a quorum and once with one to try and hire Maben City Clerk Lisa Wynn.
The board couldn’t get the hire to the finish line again on Monday, this time due to a disagreement about the candidate’s salary.
Ward 1 Alderman Gary Fratesi told The Enterprise-Tocsin this week that a salary amount had been discussed in
closed session.
We’ve been able to deduce from public conversation that was likely around $55,000.
But when the aldermen returned to open session Ward 4 Alderman Marvin Elder’s motion was for $72,000.
“This is a first,” Fratesi said later in the week. “I’ve been there 26 years, and this is the first time that’s happened, agreeing in the back that they’re going to do one thing and coming out and a guy changing it.”
Fratesi indicated that the vote to hire was likely going to be 2-2, with himself and Ward 2 Alderman Darrell Simpson voting against and Elder and Ward 3 Alderman Ruben Woods likely voting in favor of the hire, with a likely tiebreaker by the mayor in favor of the motion to hire.
Fratesi said of all the candidates who have submitted resumes, none have relevant accounting experience, something he said should be a prerequisite for this position.
Wynn is currently working on becoming a certified municipal clerk through the Mississippi Municipal League, which she said in a previous meeting should be completed next spring.
During the latter part of Monday’s meeting, apparently Ward 3 Alderman Darrell Simpson pointed out that the motion to increase the salary by $17,000 differed from the mayor's recommendation.
As a result, Elder’s motion failed to receive a second.
Simpson then made a subsidiary motion to table the matter until the next meeting. He raised concerns that the previous city clerk (Kaneilia Williams), for whom they originally budgeted a $72,000 salary, had significantly more experience and education than the current candidate.
Despite the setback, Indianola Mayor Ken Featherstone remains optimistic about securing a qualified candidate soon.
"The position itself is so significant because some of the city's biggest revenue generators are right here at the City Hall," said Featherstone. "We need someone in position, not tomorrow. We need a person in there now, someone that will feel confident and trustworthy, someone that can command the (operation) that we have here in the city hall, make everything function like a wheel or a machine, so that is what we are looking for."
Despite the disagreements, the situation’s urgency is apparent, and the board is working toward a resolution.
"We are in a state of emergency,” Elder said. “We can't push this down the road again. The amount of work that is left there and is not being completed right now. Somebody has to come in and bring us up to (date). So, whoever it may be, they have a lot of work ahead of them to bring us up to date."
The board will continue to discuss the salary issue at the next meeting, but it is clear that the priority is to fill the position as soon as possible.
The E-T was not present for this portion of Monday night’s meeting.
Bryan Davis contributed to this story.
