Prior to the Nov. 11 Indianola Board of Aldermen meeting, Indianola Mayor Steve Rosenthal placed a document, purportedly a veto nixing the hiring of a full time assistant to the city clerk, into the aldermen’s packets.
The paper outlined his reasons for denying the request entered into motion by Alderman Marvin Elder to hire a full-time assistant for the city clerk. That motion passed on a 3 to 1 vote at the previous meeting (Alderman Gary Fratesi was absent from that session).
In the document dated November 9, Rosenthal said, "It is not in the best interest of the taxpayers of Indianola to add additional City Hall personnel. I have studied the duties of the previous city clerks and find that we currently have more financial administrative and deputy clerks employed than ever before."
Rosenthal mentioned the responsibilities of the full-time water department supervisor, the full-time payroll/ HR clerk and previous city clerks in the submitted paper.
"We now have a deputy clerk who does all of those duties except pulling the docket and transferring the funds," Rosenthal wrote.
Rosenthal also said he examined the time spent by previous city clerks and determined that they were able to complete their duties "in most cases" in 50 to 55 hours per week.
Although he added, "With one exceptional city clerk who would spend 80 plus hours due to her commitment to the city."
Rosenthal also added that he does not expect the city clerk to put in 80 plus hours a week, but only complete the required tasks in a timely manner. In addition, he stated that he is open to looking at the situation again in six months to see if time on the job and training will enhance the city clerk's efficiency.
