C.F. Council delays vote on permanent manager

By CALEB SOPTELEANThe Daily Inter Lake

To advertise or not advertise for its city manager position may be the unresolved question in Columbia Falls.

By a unanimous vote, the Columbia Falls Council on Monday appointed Susan Nicosia as interim city manager.

Action on filling the position permanently was postponed until June 6, and some members of the community questioned a lack of advertising for the position. 

Nicosia has been the city’s clerk and director of finance and administration since September 2006. She replaces Bill Shaw, whose last day of work is Friday.

Shaw is moving on to Kalispell where he will be the public works director. He was both city manager and planning director in Columbia Falls. Shaw recommended Nicosia for the Columbia Falls city manager position.

The council interviewed Nicosia and spent more than an hour and a half asking questions in a give-and-take session that was preceded by public comment.

Mayor Don Barnhart noted that Shaw had said that there wasn’t enough work to keep him busy on a full-time basis due to the downturn in the economy. Shaw has a background in urban planning.

“I think it depends on whether or not you have something to do that you like to do,” Nicosia said. She noted that she handles citizens’ complaints in her current job and would continue doing so as city manager.

During public comment, former Columbia Falls Mayor Ed Toren said he didn’t have a problem with Nicosia but wanted the position advertised.

“I really have a problem with this,” he said. “This whole thing feels like it’s been railroaded.”

Dan Schellinger echoed Toren’s comments.

“I think you guys are jumping the gun,” he said. “For $50 you can put an ad in the paper locally. If you haven’t got 50 bucks, I’ll give it to you.”

Flathead County Clerk and Recorder Paula Robinson recommended Nicosia for the position, as did Flathead County Finance Director Sandy Carlson and others.

Nicosia said she sees the city manager’s job as “the logical next step” in her professional career. She does not believe the council would be acting too quickly by hiring her for the permanent position without advertising it.

“Local governments are very efficient and you are taking advantage of that,” she said. “I would be the first candidate not to ask the council to live outside city limits.”

Nicosia said it would be “difficult but not impossible” to fill her current position. Her new salary was not discussed. The council will consider that on June 6.

Council member Doug Karper said that a prospective city manager candidate couldn’t have more knowledge about this particular job than Nicosia. “We have a unique person here. We could look high and low, and we won’t get her level of experience and knowledge.”

Taking the time to advertise the position “doesn’t really matter to me,” he said.

Prior to hiring Shaw in 2001, council member Mike Shepard said, three city managers left because the council challenged their positions on issues.

Shepard explained what the city would get by advertising the position: “People from California, Oregon or back east or wherever. People who don’t fit in.”

Toward the end of the meeting, council member Julie Plevel said Shaw has been a fine city manager. “I don’t want anyone to think we’ve rushed a decision,” she said, advocating waiting two weeks before considering what to do about the permanent position.

Nicosia has a master’s degree in public administration. She served as mayor of Columbia Falls from 2003 to 2006 and was a council member from 1998 to 2003.

Reporter Caleb Soptelean may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at csoptelean@dailyinterlake.com.