City, manager hopeful in negotiations

Former Col. Falls leader in line for interim position

By JOHN STANG/Daily Inter Lake

Former Columbia Falls City Manager Myrt Webb has been approached about becoming Kalispell's interim city manager until a permanent manager is hired.

Mayor Pam Kennedy and City Council President Pro Tempore Duane Larson met with Webb on Friday.

Later that day, Kennedy and Webb reached a broad verbal agreement on his potential hiring.

"I've accepted their offer," Webb said Tuesday.

Webb said his potential salary would be $4,000 a month with no benefits, with he and Kennedy expecting the job to last four to six months.

A detailed written contract has not been presented to Webb.

"What Pam and Myrt talked about were the very basics," City Attorney Charles Harball said.

Harball and Kennedy expect to meet today to hammer out contract language to present to Webb.

"Properly, they are still in the negotiation phase," Harball said.

Kennedy has not yet recommended Webb's hiring to the other City Council members.

If Webb agrees to the written contract, Kennedy expects to put the matter to a council vote on Monday.

Webb is a retired U.S. Army colonel. After the military, he became the city manager of Colfax, Wash., and then city manager of Columbia Falls for three years. He later was an interim county administrator for Flathead County and manager of the Flathead County Solid Waste Department.

Webb, a certified system engineer for Microsoft, currently works two days a week maintaining information systems at North Valley Hospital. He also is on a committee backing the $10 million land and water conservation bond request on November's ballot.

In Kalispell, Webb would replace Jim Patrick, who was fired last week. The council terminated Patrick's contract in a closed session on Oct. 13.

The council did not make the reasons for the termination public when it announced the firing four days later on Friday.

There are indications that there was an apparent drifting apart in philosophies and styles between Patrick and some council members, increased by the strains of rapid city growth in tough economic times.

At the Oct. 13 meeting, council members mentioned several names as potential interim city managers, including Webb, retired Police Chief Frank Garner, some city department heads, and others.

Interviews with Kennedy and four council members indicated there was no consensus or front-runner for the temporary job on Oct. 13.

Kennedy later met individually with council members to collect signatures on Patrick's termination letter and to get more feedback on a potential interim manager.

Kennedy began talking with some of the suggested people, and Webb was the only one willing to accept the temporary job. Kennedy declined to identify the other potential candidates.

The Daily Inter Lake has questioned the legality of Patrick's termination decision because it was made in a closed session with no prior announcement of a vote or action to be taken.

Harball plans to recommend that the council vote publicly - possibly Monday - on Patrick's termination to clear up any potential disputes.

City Human Resources Director Terry Mitton is acting as city manager until an interim manager is hired.

Council members did not want to add city manager duties to any of the department heads because of the workload, Larson said.

The search for a permanent city manager is expected to take four to six months.

Patrick had been Kalispell's city manager since November 2004 when he replaced Chris Kukulski.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com