BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Starke is formally splitting city management between two positions, one which will oversee public works and the other finance and general government.
The first reading of the ordinance passed last week designates the roles as general manager and chief administrative officer.
City officials say the ordinance — which significantly amends the previous city manager ordinance — describes how the city has been run for several years.
It reflects how City Manager Drew Mullins and Jimmy Crosby, former city clerk, cooperated all along. That partnership continued after Crosby resigned as clerk and Mullins hired him as operations director.
Once finalized, however, the second administrative position would no longer answer to the manager. Both the general manager and chief administrative officer would be appointed by the commission, working under separate contracts.
As described by the ordinance, Mullins’ current duties are those assigned to the general manager, while Crosby’s are assigned to the chief administrative officer. The one exception is finance, which the commission recently assigned to the city manager. The ordinance reverses that, placing finance under the chief administrative officer.
Both appointees will be responsible for preparing a budget, however — one for public works and one for general government.
According to Mayor Scott Roberts, the ordinance is a recognition that what Starke has been doing has been working.
In addition to finance, the chief administrative officer will oversee matters of economic development, including private, public and partnership projects like City Walk downtown, as they work their way from concept to realization.
“We’ve got so much going on, one person can’t do it,” said Mullins, who has multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects of his own in the utility departments. “I felt like I was being pulled in 16 different directions.”
The segregation of responsibilities was natural, as Mullins came to the city with experience in utilities as a town manager. The full title in the ordinance is general manager of public works, which includes preparing and sticking to a budget, carrying out short- and long-term plans, advising the commission and department heads, communicating with the commission, staff and the public, human resources for the public works departments, etc.
The chief administrative officer will carry out the same duties on the general government side of the house. Both jobs share the qualifications of education and experience required for employment as well as required residency within the county. Both will serve at the pleasure of the commission, which will appoint, remove and decide compensation for these positions.
“This is the perfect reasoning behind it. Look what has been done in three years — and we’ve been operating this way — and look what happened the previous 20 years,” Mullins said, listing millions in revenue obtained for infrastructure and revitalization within the city. “This obviously has worked. And it’s not just about personalities either. It just makes sense.”
Crosby, whose appointment as chief administrative officer is not automatic but presumptive, agrees.
“It’s not totally unique from what some other towns have done, but it is different in that we do not pay for an additional city manager to sit on top of the two areas that are usually functional in any city,” Crosby said.
Having finance under someone other than the manager allows for better checks and balances on expenditures, he said, comparing them to the CEO and CFO of a corporation.
They may be playing on separate courts within city hall, but Crosby made it clear they are still on the same team with the same objective, and what each does supports the other. A lot of the funding the chief administrative officer will pursue will help fund infrastructure improvements and extensions that will in turn support economic development.
While duties over finance have been removed from the city clerk, it remains an elected position in the city, albeit a vacant one. A referendum next year may ask voters if it should be removed from the city charter as one of the elected offices. Unlike the police chief — now a position without a department to run — the commission has not indicated it would be eliminating the clerk’s office, which remains responsible for billing, record keeping, etc. A voter-approved change in the charter would make the clerk another appointed position.
The commission designated the police chief a ceremonial position with a $1 salary this year when law enforcement was turned over to the sheriff. A November referendum will ask voters if it should be removed from the charter altogether.
Market at Melrose
The Market at Melrose Farmers and Crafts Sale takes place the second Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Mossman Hall in Melrose, 310 S.R. 26. The market features local artists, homemade crafts, one-of-a-kind gifts, a farmers market, plants and animals.
To become a vendor, reach out to “Grumpa Curtis” on Facebook.
