allotsego.com EDITORIAL

Don’t Be Stampeded, Keep

Manager In Place For Now

Yet again, Council member Mike Lynch – this time, with the help of colleague Larry Malone – has manufactured a crisis in Oneonta City Hall.

This evening, Common Council will convene in special session to act on a motion to approve a severance package for City Manager Martin Murphy.  Acting Mayor Russ Southard, who confirmed Murphy Thursday morning declined a request that he resign, called the meeting.

Murphy, with a quarter-century of experience in municipal management, deserves more than 10 tumultuous months in City Hall to show what he can do.  Ousting him now, the second Oneonta city manager to be pushed out in slightly over a year, would be a mistake on many levels.

From a practical standpoint, what qualified professional would want to take the job?  It would evolve on an interim basis to city Finance Director Meg Hungerford, (who Lynch wanted there in the first place).  But, lacking the credentials called for in the charter, she would be unable to fill the position permanently.  Then what?

From a fairness standpoint, Murphy has only had 10 tumultuous months on the job.  Within three weeks of his Oct. 1 start date, Mayor Dick Miller suddenly passed from the scene.  Southard, the deputy mayor, assumed the responsibilities, but only on a caretaker basis.   Four of the eight Council members – Lynch and Malone among them, plus Bob Brzozowski and Chip Holmes – are lame ducks, choosing not to run again.

In this flux, Murphy hasn’t been given a chance to do what last year’s hiring process found he can do.

From a practical standpoint and one of fairness, this manufactured crisis should be tamped down until a new Common Council and mayor-apparent Gary Herzig (the sole candidate) are elected in November and take office Jan. 1.  Then, the new Council and Murphy can plan a strategy, set goals and get started.  Without a strategy and goals, the current Council has no basis for judging Murphy’s performance.

As he did in the spring, Lynch is again seeking to stampede his colleagues with alarmism.

Brzozowski, Holmes and Council member David Rissberger favor keeping Murphy in place until a new mayor and Council are in place.  Of the five who didn’t vote, but “reached a consensus” to ask for Murphy’s resignation, it would only take one switched vote to stabilize this situation.

The citizens of Oneonta, it seems, can’t depend on Lynch or Malone to calm things down.  Council member Madolyn O. Palmer, an administrator in city schools for decades, knows enough about the challenges of management; she should get behind Murphy for now.

Foremost, Mayor Russ Southard – he stood up and shouldered a responsibility he didn’t seek after Mayor Miller’s sudden demise – should do so again.  Slow it down.  Allow time for success to happen.

This is a time that calls for statesmanship.  Russ Southard has shown statesmanship, and should proceed accordingly again this evening.