The Peoria City Council met in special session tonight to name former Caterpillar executive Henry Holling the interim city manager. He is scheduled to start work Feb. 3, but will not assume the duties of interim city manager until the close of business on Feb. 15, which is Randy Oliver’s last day. He will be paid $10,860 per month for an anticipated four to six months while the council looks for a new permanent city manager. Per Holling’s contract, he is not a candidate for the permanent city manager position.
Holling’s appointment passed the council on a 9-2 vote. Councilmen Spain and Montelongo were the only “nay” votes.
Councilman Bob Manning (3rd District) made the motion to hire Holling, seconded by Councilman Eric Turner (At-Large). Manning explained that department heads Craig Hullinger and Pat Landes were not considered for the job because they “have too much on their plates at this time” and to have either one of them serve as the interim city manager would “paralyze that department” while they were away.
Councilman Gary Sandberg (At-Large) was perhaps the most surprising “yea” vote. Holling has said some pretty unflattering things about Sandberg in the past and has actively raised money for candidates to defeat Sandberg at the polls. Sandberg’s response was that “we shouldn’t be afraid of people we might not always agree with.” He said that Holling loves the community and is “the right person for the next four to six months.”
Council Member Barbara Van Auken (2nd District) echoed Manning and Sandberg’s sentiments, saying that the council was looking for someone with executive experience, community involvement, and “if we’re lucky,” government experience.
Mayor Jim Ardis said that if everyone were to look at Holling’s resume without a name on it, and without the rumor and innuendo that has been spread in the community, everyone would have jumped at the chance to hire him.
Montelongo did not speak during the meeting, but afterwards told the press when asked that the reason he didn’t vote for Holling was because he didn’t feel Holling had enough experience with municipal management. Spain left very quickly, so no one was able to catch him for his comments.
Anonymous commentators rebuked
I’ve left something out of the comments I’ve reported so far. That is that almost all of them had something to say about the anonymous commentators that have been writing on this and other blogs and forums. Manning mentioned that there was no truth to the rumors that have been bandied about in the blogs he talked to several people he trusts “who have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Holling on a number of different levels and in different environments” and they all said that “he has the experience and skills to do an outstanding job as interim City Manager.” He added, “I give a lot of weight and credence to the opinions of those I contacted and absolutely none to whisper campaigns, anonymous bloggers and phantom letter writers.”
Sandberg likened the rumors about Holling to the weapons of mass destruction that were supposed to be in Iraq. “There’s no meat on the bone,” he said, referring to the allegations. If they were true, “Cat would have dealt with it long ago.”
Mayor Ardis said that it’s hard to get people who are willing to serve in a public capacity because of the kind of treatment they get in the “electronic media.” Whisper campaigns discourage good candidates from applying or being willing to serve.
Councilman George Jacob (At-Large) asked City Attorney Randy Ray if the code of conduct for commissioners extends to any comments they may make on “electronic media,” like blogs, anonymous or otherwise. Mr. Ray said that it does, assuming their identity can be ascertained. I asked Jacob afterwards why he asked that question. Apparently there is some concern that there may be a commissioner or commissioners who are making defamatory allegations on blogs under a pseudonym.
The contract
I will post a copy of the contract soon. In the meantime, here are the salient provisions:
- Interim assignment shall be for four to six months, but that may be extended by mutual agreement if necessary.
- He will get 15 days of paid leave to use during his interim assignment, with three additional days added for each month he is asked to serve past August (in other words, if they haven’t found a permanent city manager and his interim assignment is extended).
- Holling won’t participate in the city’s health insurance program, nor will he be eligible for any city benefits other than those outlined in the agreement.
- He has to continue residing in the City of Peoria during his interim assignment.
- I’ll quote this verbatim and without comment: “The CITY shall pay to HENRY HOLLING a car allowance of $300.00 per month, for all periods during which he has a valid driver’s license.”
- The city may terminate Holling at any time (for instance, if a permanent city manager is hired before his four to six months is up).
- The agreement is subject to Holling’s “successful completion and passage of a pre-employment physical, including drug and alcohol testing, prior to the initial start date.”
- He can’t engage in outside consulting without council approval.
- As mentioned before, it is stipulated that he will not be considered for the permanent city manager job.
After I got home, there was this message waiting for me in my in-box: “Interim City Manager Henry Holling will be holding a news conference on February 1, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. The news conference will be held in City Council Chambers.”
Yes, yes there are. While all the drama has been on the 18th Congressional District and 92nd Legislative District races, there’s one race from which we’ve hardly heard a whisper: the U. S. Senate race. Dick Durbin’s latest six-year term is up, and he will have a Republican challenger. Three Chicago-area Republicans are running for the chance to face Durbin in November. They are Steve Sauerberg (pictured), Mike Psak, and Andy Martin. 
Did you vote early? Is your candidate still in the race?