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Village Manager Rush Resigns

(94 posts)
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  1. spatny
    Member

    From the Suburban Life:

    Village Manager Kathleen Rush has announced her resignation Friday, April 17, and assistant public works director Nathan Thiel has put in a two week notice Wednesday, April 15.
    The Village Board will vote to amend and approve severance benefits to Rush’s employment Monday, April 20.
    Rush’s resignation comes less than two weeks after the April 7 consolidated election. The Riverside Village Board was going to see some turnover after the Community Alliance Party won a majority of board seats. Michael Gorman will become the village’s new village president, and new trustees will include James Reynolds, Lonnie Sacchi and Mark Shevitz.
    Thiel said the village was eliminating his position, and his role was to help transition with the new director. As soon as Thiel found work elsewhere, he said it was understood that he would submit his two week notice.
    With a couple offers pending, Thiel said it was appropriate for him to set his last day of work with the village as April 29.
    Rush was not immediately available for comment.

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 18:51 #

  2. Catherine
    Member

    It's also Public Service Recognition Week May 2.

    I really have been liking the Life's coverage since the campaign. All facts, no pot-stirring. For example, interview with new village president:

    http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/riverside/news/x50620583/New-village-president-has-many-issues-on-his-plate

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 18:59 #

  3. Fred
    Member

    Who's left to steer the ship?

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 20:05 #

  4. Catherine
    Member

    It's been saved from shipwreck. Now we can set it on the right course.

    The village administrator is an employee who works the will of the board. He or she does not steer the ship. That anyone would think so is an indication of the dysfunction.

    Rahm Emanuel is not the President either.

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 20:12 #

  5. HRCollins
    Member

    Catherine - I beg to differ.

    The village manager definitely steers the ship. The village board tells the village manager what direction to go, where to stop and how fast.

    How well the ship is run is based on whether the village board is able to provide and give clear, correct direction and whether the village manager has the capabilities to drive the ship.

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 20:41 #

  6. spatny
    Member

    That's not the way it works here. But it will be...

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 21:50 #

  7. Catherine
    Member

    No, the board is the captain, the VM first mate. The captain steers the ship; the first mate takes orders. The taxpayers and owners voters are the shipowners, and it's our cargo too.

    No unelected person runs or steers any town, city, etc. anywhere in this country that I have heard of. But no responsible professional leaves their post without their replacement in place or without timely notice of intent to accept another offer, in this case notice to the possible new board. So either we have a new village manager, or, you know the alternative. It is not behavior to be rewarded, nor is it good for the old resume.

    So if the village manager were an indispensable professional she would not deprive us of her service with insufficient notice, because her great sense of responsibility and duty to Riverside is well-known and has been stated many times here.

    I will admit it did often look as if the VM were steering the ship. Now that we have trustees who have more time to put in, I think boundary confusions between them and the unelected administrator will be avoided.

    So I am excited about the new village administrator. I am sure it will be someone who will have a strong feel for the nature of the town, can satisfy most and help put this divisive chapter behind us. If irresponsible behavior forces us into an interim post holder, that is nothing fatal.

    Late breaking:

    "Rush's contract expires April 30. She is willing to stay on the job until May 31, she said, if the new board wants her to."...""It's time for me to move on," Rush said this afternoon. "When you make a decision like this, you've got to evaluate all sorts of different considerations. I think the electorate has spoken and there is change in the offing. And the community is desirable for that change and that's good for the community."

    http://www.rblandmark.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=4907

    My, how generous. Meow.

    Posted Friday Apr 17, 2009 23:02 #

  8. JohnM
    Member

    Wow. Where to start?

    Catherine states:

    But no responsible professional leaves their post without their replacement in place or without timely notice of intent to accept another offer, in this case notice to the possible new board. So either we have a new village manager, or, you know the alternative. It is not behavior to be rewarded, nor is it good for the old resume.

    Her contract expires on April 30. She offered to stay until May 31. This seems sufficient notice. Do you really believe that the RCA wants her around? It seems to me perfectly sensible that she should want to leave under her own terms, rather than work on a day to day basis for a Board that doesn't want her. I would hazard a guess that the new Board is prepared for this eventuality. I'm quite sure they'll be able to find someone who meets their criteria in short order.

    So if the village manager were an indispensable professional she would not deprive us of her service with insufficient notice, because her great sense of responsibility and duty to Riverside is well-known and has been stated many times here.

    Her contract expires on April 30. She is not an indentured servant or a serf. She's a person of free will. The RCA has made it quite clear that they are not particularly interested in retaining her services for any length of time. Her primary sense of responsibility and duty should be to herself--not to the current or future Board. Again, it seems to me abundantly clear that she has no professional future in Riverside, and that she is taking the wisest and most responsible course.

    My, how generous. Meow.

    As you are fond of saying--pot, meet kettle. Leaving that aside, it seems to me that her statement is exactly what I'd expect in this situation. As I noted earlier, there is no indication whatsoever that the new Board has any intention of keeping her on, and it also reasonable to assume that the majority of RCA supporters don't want her to continue either. That's fine--senior officials usually leave any government entity when there is a change in administration. However, I think she can be excused for not joining the throng seeking to touch the hem of Ceasar's robe.

    Posted Saturday Apr 18, 2009 07:38 #

  9. Maria GC
    Member

    I am not surprised by their resignation, especially with the unprofessional, nasty campaign Ms Rush suffered through. She was always a highly dedicated professional and her hard work and expertise will be missed. I am quite anxious to see the calibar of the individual they will replace. I am also interested to see the experience, salary, of this person. Mr. Reynolds was quite verbal about getting a middle of the road experienced person who asks for less money because the economy is so bad and they should be so easy to find. I hope he is right. We shall see.

    Posted Saturday Apr 18, 2009 08:23 #

  10. spatny
    Member

    Ms. Rush was/is a competent administrator. My quarrel(s) with her were based entirely on the direction she and the past couple boards took the village, and what they spent to achieve whatever they did. My disagreements have been over their iniiatives, priorities, and methods. If it was the Board that directed the VM then that is where the blame lies for where we now find ourselves. Those people are all residents and live here. Their voices were recently heard making calls for the RP candidates that lost. Their names are affixed to the letters of endorsement they sent to the media. They are the ones that have spent and made the decisions to spend more that we now have to honor. Now they and their surrogates will have to find others to heap their record upon as their "Golden Age" begins to take on a green patina.

    No one can blame the VM for walking away with the benefits that the past board wrote into her contract. One can, however, question the sitting and past board members' judgement in being so profligate with our resources, which after all come almost entirely from those property tax payments everyone grumbles about. It will be interesting to see what other surprises may be uncovered. Hopefully Riverside doesn't have a Henry Paulson hiding in the woodpile.

    Since some of those that were so vocal in deriding the planks of the RCA candidates platform continue to heckle them and our modest efforts here to help them seem to think that renters do not pay real estate taxes, I shall gladly pay my and my wife's share of this severance package twice, once in rent to my landlord, and once in coin of the realm, that is, $6.66 each for that is what it breaks down to for every man, woman and child resident in Riverside. Anyone that cares to join me please do so.

    Perhaps together we can assemble enough to make a donation to plant a single tree in Centennial Plaza, as it is now to be known. If we plant just one tree to commemorate this event then something good will have come from all this. You can bring these contributions to the Board meeting Monday - check or cash. Imagine how good you'll feel to be doing something positive for Riverside. Imagine too, while you are at it, how many trees we could plant for $60K+. Let's see, at $250. each, that's 240 trees. That would give our woefully underfunded tree replacement fund a real shot in the arm and help to keep Riverside "The Village in the Forest" for generations to come. Make those contributions and help turn a negative into a positive.

    Posted Saturday Apr 18, 2009 08:28 #

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