I received a call one evening last week informing me that Village Manager Charlie Lynn is retiring in January.
Taken by surprise by this news, and after a few days of reflection, I come to find I'm saddened to hear this. I have known Charlie for quite a few years due to my involvement with the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. In my experiences, he has always been a gentleman and worked to get the best for the Village.
He has been accused of many things. But one thing I don't think you can argue with is the fact that Charlie has always done what he thought best for the Village.
So now what does the Village do?
Charlie has said the January date will help ease his successor through the difficult budget season. So, who should be the next Village manager?
In my opinion, there is only one choice -- Paul Schofield. With the Village engineer leaving in November and the manager leaving in January, this choice makes the most sense.
Critical to the budget work that will be continuing for the next few years, continuity will be the key to success. Mr. Schofield is the one person on the Village staff that can provide this.
I think the one of the biggest things Mr. Schofield will bring is cooperation among the staff. Many times in the past few years, a silo mentality has crept into the Village senior staff. Everyone is worried about thier turf. No interaction between the key staff members.
The end result has been that decisions have been made with common sense apparently kicked to the curb. I don't want to detail what I consider to be some inane decisions, but suffice it to say many things could have worked out better.
While your at it Village Council ... promote Jim Barnes to Community Services Director, Mr. Schofield's current position when you make Mr. Schofield the Village Manager. What he has been able to do with some limited resources at the Leisure Services Department has been incredible. We need to keep people like this.
By the way Mr. Schofield, when you get that promotion I know you will do the right things for the residents of the Village.
And you know, I'll be watching.
Comments (1)
I couldn't disagree with the previous poster more. The O-N-L-Y choice to be made that will reap benefits for the people of Wellington is to go outside. The observation that too many decisions have been made after common sense was kicked to the curb is right on target. You can blame the senior leadership for that, particularly Mr. Lynn and Mr. Schofield.
The people of Wellington need and deserve a change of course for the leadership of our local government. This change will not occur with the selection of Mr. Schofield or Mr. Bonde. Either one will result in a continuation of business as usual, which has been detrimental to the interests of this community.
Posted by Sid Melton | November 2, 2007 8:18 PM
Posted on November 2, 2007 20:18