By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent
When the former Town of Salem hired Patrick Casey in 2008 as administrator, he was classified as an employee.
Then, last fall, the former Village of Silver Lake bolstered the classification to public official when they created a new ordinance.
The former Silver Lake Village Board unanimously approved the ordinance on Oct. 5, 2016, just before the transition committee was created. Town of Salem was still a municipality.
Since the former Village of Silver Lake never had an administrator, some local officials recognized the need for the ordinance, which was signed by then clerk/treasurer Vicki Galich and then Village President Bruce Nopenz.
Meanwhile, according to section 61 of the state statute, public officials are identified as mayor, village president, alderman, trustee, treasurer, clerk, comptroller, attorney, deputy clerk or deputy treasurer. Also, people serving on a statutory committee, commission or board like the police and fire commission are considered as public officials.
Municipalities, however, are not limited to statutory mandated or authorized offices. A municipal administrator, which is not a created position by state statute, can receive the role of public official by a municipal ordinance.
In Casey’s case, when he was hired as municipal administrator by the Town of Salem, he served at the pleasure of the board.
Thus, the previous town resolution and the newer Silver Lake ordinance are at odds with each other.
The resolution approved by the Salem Town board to hire Casey read, “The Town Board does hereby create the position of Town Administrator to serve at the pleasure of the Town Board and to perform all lawful duties assigned by the Town Board which do not conflict with duties and powers conferred by law on other Town officers.”
“The Town Board or a committee appointed by the Town Board shall establish the qualifications, compensation and other terms of employment for the position of Town Administrator.”
So the question is, what difference does an administrator being a public official rather than an employee make?
It could make removing the administrator either harder and more complicated or perhaps give other ways to remove that administrator. The methods are found in state statues 61 and 17.
The removal could be done by a majority of the village board. It could also come about by a resident taxpayer making a written complaint that the board must consider. More details are found in 17.13.
According to the cooperative agreement, previous town ordinances and village ordinances will remain in effect until the village board amends them. This would occur after codification of the Silver Lake ordinances and review by General Code.
Previously, General Code codified Town of Salem ordinances. This company is currently codifying Silver Lake ordinances.
When that codification is done, General Code will go through both sets of ordinances to weed out duplicates and make suggestions about which ones to keep and about any that might appear to be at odds or not in line with state statutes.
The date of the finalization of ordinances is not known.