shiawasseecounty.net

I was just wondering what people felt were the short comings of the City Manager. I hear people say "oh I don't like him."
Well perhaps he did not have the most bubbly personality, but I still have not found anyone that could give me any hard facts that would say the City Manager was not doing a good job.
Perhaps people could list a few hard facts to help me understand.
I know he had a thankless job and had to cut the budget in some places that did hurt, due to a eroding tax base because of the loss of industry here.
But I would like some hard facts where the city was being mismanaged by the City Manager.
I would really like to understand what I have been missing here, please help me with this.

Hello anyone?

...Don't know much about Owosso's City Manager, but here is a link to his blog: http://notesfromthehinterlands.blogspot.com/

...It hasn't been updated in quite some time, but now that he's about to join the ranks of the unemployed, perhaps he'll add to it.....

Gary gave a pretty thorough evaluation here - http://www.shiawasseecounty.net/forum/v ... .php?t=223

tntc

Hummmmmmm. It looks like no one can come up with any hard data as to what is wrong with the current Manager. Maybe nothing is wrong with him?

Hello anyone?

Owosso manager resigns at urging of council members
OWOSSO
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
By Ken Palmer
kpalmer@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6313
OWOSSO - In the end, it was more like a polite business conversation than a seige-like confrontation.
But the outcome was just as clear to all of those involved: After 17 years as city manager, Gregg Guetschow would step down.
Guetschow announced his resignation at Monday's City Council meeting, just hours after three council members had dropped by to tell him they thought it was time for a change and had the votes to remove him.
"I said, 'Well, then, let's talk about how we bring this about,'" Guetschow said.
"I don't think this needs to be complicated. Both sides, as far as I can tell, are trying to be dignified and professional in the way they are approaching this."
Guetschow submitted his resignation effective Monday, provided the two sides can agree on a separation package.
There's no reason to believe that won't happen, said Guetschow, who scheduled a special council meeting for Monday.
The council is expected to name an interim city manager while it searches for a permanent replacement.
The resignation came as the council was about to begin a performance review for Guetschow. But there was no significance to the timing, said Councilman Mike Bruff, one of those who visited Guetschow on Monday.
"Gregg has done a fine job over the past 17 or 18 years, but sometimes change is good," said Bruff, one of three anti-Guetschow candidates who were elected to the council in 2005. "We've never really wavered in our feeling that Owosso was in need of new leadership."
Guetschow, 53, will leave as Owosso's longest-serving city manager.
His supporters describe him as an astute administrator who has kept the city in the black during tough budgetary times. But his management style irked his critics, who have described him as a micro-manager who didn't do enough to revitalize the city.
Guetschow was at the center of a failed recall attempt against four council members who strongly supported him.
But at least one of his supporters on the council has since swung the other way, giving Guetschow's opponents a majority, Bruff said.
Council members Mike Cline and Mark Owen accompanied Bruff at the meeting with Guetschow on Monday afternoon.
"There was more than a majority who were in support of his resignation," said Bruff, who described the meeting with Guetschow as "a cordial conversation."
"We aren't out to attack Gregg. Our goal is to find a city manager that maybe has a little more enthusiasm, a little more vision for the future. You get tired, I think, in that position. You get complacent.
"It really wasn't personal."
Cline said he believes a new city manager would help when it comes time to replace some city employees who are nearing retirement. Guetschow deserves a fair severance package, he said.
"Gregg Guetschow took this very, very well," Cline said. "He didn't get mad. He didn't get upset. He just handled it extremely well."
Guetschow said the tenor of the meeting was professional.
"It never got to the point where they threatened to fire me," he said. "(But) it's not hard to read the handwriting on the wall when you have four people there who feel there is a need for a change."
Mayor Linda Robertson, a staunch supporter of Guetschow, and several other council members could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
A native of Plainwell in southwest Michigan, Guetschow worked for eight years in Hillsdale and two years in Dundee before coming to Owosso.
He is president-elect of the local Rotary Club and secretary on the Memorial Health Care Board of Trustees.
For now, Guetschow said, he plans to complete his doctorate in public affairs and administration at Western Michigan University.
"Owosso has been a great community to serve, a great community to raise my kids in," he said. "I have no regrets. I'm very proud of my staff and what we've been able to achieve in some really difficult times."
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at the risk of being gagged..but they only keep these online for 14 days and 'we' might be interested a bit longer, at least while the search for a replacement goes on.

Don't be ridiculous! Let the man go on his terms. There is no need to do anything else.

I have had several dealings with the city manager and one in particular would indicate the need for examination by his supporters.

When The City Council gave the City Manager the right to negotiate the last cable franchise contract he took a lot of power for himself and left the community wondering what had happened. From what I understand from the way the FCC cable law was written, the local cable franchisee is required to do a few things for the community that grants the sole right to provide cable services. They are required to return a certain percentage of the cable fees they collected to the city. They are required to provide a cable channel for local access. They are required to provide a studio, equipment, training and personnel to support local programming. In our area we have channel 3 as our local access channel.

Now, the law gives the city some options when choosing how to provide local programming. The channel (3) can be a Public Access channel, a Government Access channel and/or an Education channel. The Public Access channel would give almost unfettered control of programming to the people of the community. A Government Access channel would give complete control over programming to a representative of our local government, in this case the City Manager. An Education channel would be managed by the local school district.

Now which one do you think the City Manager chose? If you said the Government Access option you are right. The City manager in turn gave control over Channel 3 to a group of conservative Christians who operated out of a local church basement. If you were a member of our community and wanted to offer programming for channel 3, you had to be cleared by the church group.

Now don’t you wonder why we don’t have studio, equipment, training and personnel as required by law? We don’t have it because our City Manager made a gentleman’s agreement, outside the legal contract, that removed those requirements that they be provided by the local cable company.

Another thing, what happened to all the money the city received from the cable company as payment for having sole access to our community. If I have figured it out correctly, it be should be in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Now, how do I now all this? I know it because I tried for over a year to work with the city to get some local programming on the air and was stymied at almost every turn. The city manager knew a from the beginning who had control over the programming yet he sent me many different places and pleaded ignorance as to who was really in charge. The manager of the local cable company did so a well. By the time I had a meeting with the City Manager about all this, there was a city council member (Charles Sumrac) present and a member of the Owosso Public Schools administration, it was evident to me that I could spent all my time, money and energy on developing local access programming and then have it all nixed by the City Manager without recourse because he granted himself complete control and the City Council allowed him to do so.

I taped the meeting we had and it verifies all that I have said.

GG also supported the cover up of the information about the death of Ken Holt. Ken was killed by an Owosso police officer. It was probably an accident (and I'm sure it was ruled as such) but GG denied all FOIA requests seeking the truth of the matter. I think Compeau was involved in that cover up as well. there were 3 or 4 different stories as to what Ken was doing in order to make the officer's story fit with the physical evidence. It was infuriating and I think the people involved in that got off easy.

The newspapers reported the FOIA activity so that can be verified too. For this reason alone I felt GG & the upper management of OPD should have been replaced.

"Our goal is to find a city manager that maybe has a little more enthusiasm, a little more vision for the future. You get tired, I think, in that position. You get complacent."


Reason enough:

lack of enthusiasm

lack of vision

lack of energy

complacency

And why did the City Council approve the deal made by the Manager?
It would seem that this is what the City Council is in place to do watch over the taxpayers interests.
Why did no one on the Council ask about this money and equipment that never materialized ? What was the Council doing at this time?

I don't think you'll find too many people defending the council, but your question about the city manager seems to have been answered.

No, no I don't think it has been answered yet.
I had asked for hard facts and I still have not gotten any just a little smoke being blown around.
Look I am not defending the guy but I think someone should be able to provide hard facts as to why he should be given the boot.
I still am looking for them.
I am looking for open dialog so I can understand the true reason people want him out. The cable thing was good but again that came back to the City Council for the final decision. If the Council was not happy with that deal then it should have been sent back to the Manager to re-negotiate that deal. That is how city business is conducted.

You were given verifiable facts. Sorry you don't think they are facts. I'm not going to go dig up old newspapers to back up what I say about GG, considering I don't care that much about it.

Also what you seem to be forgetting ... for whatever reason ... is that GG resigned. He wasn't fired. Demand answers from him.