Last week the Holbrook City Council called an emergency meeting that culminated in a vote of 6-1 to serve City Manager Sharon Jakubowski Wolz a 90-day notice of termination. The sole dissenting vote was from Councilmember Robert Black. The motion places Wolz on administrative leave for the duration of that 90-day period. She will continue to work remotely on the city’s priority projects until her final day on June 2.
The special meeting was called the day after the regular meeting of the council, in which the city spent most of the time discussing budget pitfalls due to the exorbitant amount being spent by the city on attorney fees and the shift in budget priorities due to unplanned expenses. Mayor Smith saying at that meeting that the city was on track to spend over half a million dollars on attorney fees. Smith said the decision for termination came as a result of the uncontrolled spending, as well as other administrative concerns.
In an interview with Mayor Smith following the special meeting, she stated that administration duties will be handled by Director of Administration Misty Hatch, and Randy Sullivan who was recently promoted to assistant city manager will be taking over as interim city manager until the city can find a long-term solution. “We’re going to take our time and make sure we find the right candidate that matches the values we’re looking for the city. It would be nice to have someone with a strong background in site development and economic development.”
Sullivan will now be in charge of managing the attorney fees. However, the mayor said that administration has contacted all law offices currently utilized by the city and told them to freeze all work until they can get a handle of the situation and prioritize correctly.
Regarding the city manager position, Mayor Smith emphasized that the council wants to take the process slow but is already considering options of how to fill the position.
