Good morning – What a year we have had! I look forward each year to seeing many of you at our annual holiday potluck but Covid-19 is going to change yet another norm this year as we will have to bypass having a potluck! Although we have had a challenging year, it also has been a rewarding year with the completion of many high profile projects such as the Pioneer Parkway recreation trail, the canoe/kayak launch at Lew Clarkson Park and the completion of the new city hall. Every department has faced many issues brought on by the pandemic: public buildings closed to the public, public meetings held on Zoom, employees working from home, schedules being altered, quarantines, and isolations. All of these challenges have been met by the utmost professionalism by our employees and what I am most proud of, through all this, the citizens of Johnston continued to receive the quality services they deserve and are accustomed to. Thank you for your service and dedication to our community!!
As I look to the future, I thought it was important to give the Mayor and City Council as much notice as possible regarding my decision to retire. The City Council took action at the last Council meeting and approved my final contract as City Administrator with a retirement date of January 5, 2023 (my last working day will be October 18, 2022). Regarding my replacement, the current Mayor and City Council will be requesting proposals from various executive search firms to recruit a new City Administrator. The recruitment process will begin in March 2022.
In preparation for this transition, the Mayor and City Council took additional action and modified titles and the organizational charts for administration, affecting Cyndee Rhames and Teresa Rotschafer. A copy of the chart is attached.
Cyndee’s new title is Director of Internal Operations/City Clerk. The main change to her responsibilities now include all Human Resource (HR) issues. The HR functions Teresa was performing will be completed by Cyndee, with the exception of labor negotiations, in which Teresa will still be involved. Cyndee will continue with her IT responsibilities and maintains her appointment as City Clerk. Teresa’s new title is Assistant City Administrator/Finance. Teresa will be continuing all of her responsibilities regarding the financial functions of the City and learning additional City Administrator responsibilities. This will help with the transition to a new City Administrator. The creation of the Assistant City Administrator position was not done as an automatic succession to the City Administrator position. In fact, at this point Teresa has announced she would not be interested in the position.
As we approach the holidays, there appears to be reason for hope with the introduction of safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines. I want to encourage you to continue doing the right things to make sure you and your family are safe. If we hang on a little longer, I am hopeful the recovery from the pandemic will begin in early 2021.
Thank you for all you do and please have a Happy and Safe New Year!
Best wishes, Jim