By: Annette Christie
An extra early Watervliet City Commission meeting was held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 26 for the purposes of performing an annual review of the City Manager. LaGrow Consulting provides city management services to Watervliet with Emilie Sarratore as being the hands on manager at City Hall. The meeting that was attended by both Cindy LaGrow and Sarratore went into closed session at 5:35 p.m. and entered back into open session at 6:42 p.m. Prior to it going into closed session a round table was held whereby each commissioner could have an opportunity to speak on the performance review for the position. During that portion some of the topics included the relationship between the City Commission and Sarratore and the firing and hiring of city employees. Commissioner Marvin chose to read her statement. In in Marvin stated that she wanted to express her concerns with the city manager. She expressed some concerns over some inappropriate behavior of an employee hired by the city manager that teetered on the edge of being a breach of confidentiality. She had concerns about this same employee having access to personnel files and whether this person knew how to handle confidential information. Marvin questions how this employee was essentially appointed by Sarratore without going through the hiring process. She voiced her discontent over hearing the Sarratore had expressed hers because the Mayor and City Commission selected Prue Kiekenapp as the treasurer. Marvin also claims in her address that she has been told that Sarratore makes negative and rude opinions and comments regarding City Commission actions. Marvin states that some requests from the city manager’s office have to be asked multiple time before they are completed. She states that Sarratore has disregarded city policies such as the elimination of writing purchases orders, not getting the appropriate bids for city projects, not properly posting and filling open positions. Reflecting a conflict of interest, Marvin states that the same employee referenced earlier, has according to public records uncovered by Marvin, been represented in a legal matter by Sarratore (she is also an attorney). Marvin states that after twelve months of service, the current arrangement has not yielded the positive results that the City Commission envisioned. She said that while the arrangement with LaGrow Consulting may have started out in a productive positive manner, it has since morphed into something that is quickly spiraling out of control. “Instead of working with us, they have come in and systematically disassembled nearly every component of our structure and rebuilt it using their own hires, policies and procedures.” “We have paid over $80,000 to LaGrow Consulting for their services and we should not have to spell out our expectations. Those expectations were discussed in their interview and are clearly documents in the contract,” Marvin said.
City Manager reminds City Commission of issues
In a prepared document LaGrow Consulting provided an overview of some of the challenges and issues that they have faced since they have started, “When LaGrow Consulting was hired by the City of Watervliet in August 2015, we were met with many challenges and issues, the majority of which were not disclosed to us prior to being hired. As a reminder to this Commission, the following are a few items that we walked into this time last year,”: Current Mayor was stripped of all power by the Commission; Current Mayor had an unemployment claim against the City; Miosha violations; No Chief of Police; No working server on the premises; the Public Works Department Superintendent had been stripped of title and given a reduction of pay; Website that had been paid for and sat for several months with no information provided to get started with it. LaGrow Consulting states that after their initial meeting with employees, there were two employees who had already seen attorneys regarding filing a law suit against the City and that two more were thinking about it. Contracts had expired for the treasurer and the clerk and the city attorney had resigned. They noted that there were outdated policies and procedures, outdated handbooks, and multiple insurance policies that were expiring. The City had multiple sites in the audit, several for multiple years in a row. LaGrow Consulting provided just a few of the items that they have accomplished: Successfully fought the Mayors unemployment claim, resulting in a refund to the City; Responded to the Miosha claim, reducing the fine by $1,500; Worked with Public Works to get the new meters installed that had been sitting in inventory; Hired a police chief; Reworked the Police Department utilizing two full time officers and three part time officers and estimating a $90,000 cost savings by doing that; Installed new server to house city’s information and files; Secured laptop donation from the Pokagon Tribal Police; Found forfeiture funds that were never accurately taken care of and addressed it; Returned Police Department motorcycle resulting in savings of insurance and lease funds in the amount of $5,500; Restructure office staff to reduce costs; Doing City Hall cleaning in house to create savings; Facilitated water agreement with city and township that had been lingering; Updated all medical and personnel files; Replaced and updated city hall phone system; Updated master fee schedule. In open session Mayor Brinker reviewed the results of the review tabulations from the City Commission and some employees. From the City Commission standpoint, they were reviewed on assisting the Commission with its policy making role; internal administration; external relations; and personal characteristics. From the City Commission the City Manager office received 1167 points out of 1950. From the nine employees that completed the review form, the City Manager office received 375 out of 720. LaGrow asked for time to take in all the information provided and ask that it be revisited at the next City Commission meeting on August 9 at 5:00 p.m.
North Berrien Historical Museum will host variety of events for Glad Peach Festival
Join us in celebrating 50 years of the historical society! The North Berrien Historical Museum is hosting the following events for the weekend of the Glad Peach Festival. Friday, August 5, at 8 p.m. held at the North Berrien Historical Museum we invite the public to a free showing of the 1966 film, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. It is a G-rated film released by Walt Disney and starring Dick Van Dyke. This showing is part 1 of a 2-part film series dedicated to the year 1966, the year the North Berrien Historical Society was founded. This film is free to the public and popcorn and refreshments will be available. On Saturday, August 6, bus trips from downtown to the North Berrien Historical Museum will be offered from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. during the Glad-Peach festival. Pick up and drop off will be at Randy’s BP Gas Station (located at 121 S. Church St. in Coloma) approximately every 20 minutes. Visitors will have an opportunity to receive a guided tour of the museum if they wish, as well as an opportunity to view the new “50 Years of the North Berrien Historical Society” exhibit, in addition to our “History of Radio” exhibit and the newly restored Baushke Buggy. Bussing is completely free and open to all ages. Also on Saturday, August 6, at 5 p.m. historical speaker Terry Lynch will be at Laura Baker Park in downtown Coloma during the Glad-Peach Festival to perform his program “Mudslinging, Muckraking and Apple Pie: Presidential Campaigns, the Great American Pastime.” Political campaigns are getting down and dirty. How did this campaign craziness get started? Believe it or not, they have actually gotten more civil over the years. Don’t believe it? In this program, hear the stories of the mudslinging and muckraking of the Jefferson vs. Adams campaign of 1800, the Jackson vs. Adams of 1828, the Lincoln vs. Douglas of 1860, and Grant vs. ANYONE! Also covered in this program is the 1912 campaign when Teddy Roosevelt decided to start his OWN political party. No RSVP required for any of these events. For questions, please call the museum at (269) 468-3330 or by email at chelsea@northberrienhistory.org
Coloma Library News
Book Sale
The library’s annual Glad Peach Book Sale will be Saturday, August 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The library will be CLOSED during the sale. Don’t miss out on this HUGE sale of gently used books, DVD’s, videos and more!
Sport Science: Train for the Games
The Summer Olympics are about to begin! What does an athlete have to do to train for the games? The same things you need to do to train for baseball, swimming, volleyball, archery or any other sport! Come to the library on Tuesday, August 9 at 10:30 a.m. to investigate the science behind hand-eye coordination, center of gravity and balance, lung capacity and much more! Continue training under extreme conditions by experiencing the effects of weightlessness as you practice for a future of sports in space! This is a very interactive program with many volunteers from the crowd needed! This program is presented by the Air Zoo.
Book Club
The Coloma Library Book Club is meeting for a book discussion on Thursday, August 4 at 5:30 p.m. The title to read before the discussion is “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline. Generally, depending on demand there are titles available for check-out at the front desk. The book club regularly meets every other Thursday and is always looking for new members. If you are interested in more information please stop in the library or call 468-3431.
Story Hour
Story Hour meets on Wednesdays, at 10:30 a.m. Join Ms. Amy for a craft, story and song time! Story Hour is for children ages 3 and up. It is asked that all children be accompanied and supervised by an adult. There is no sign-up or fee required.
Free seminar addresses sexual assault on college campuses
High school students or those currently attending college, and their parents, are invited to join Teresa Yoakum, RN, SANE, for an educational seminar on the risks of sexual assault on college campuses as well as tips and advice to ensure safety in social settings or when alone. The seminar will take place on Thursday, August 4, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Frederick S. Upton Education Center at Lakeland Medical Center, St. Joseph, located at 1234 Napier Avenue. During the seminar, Yoakum will discuss statistics regarding the prevalence of victims of sexual assault on college campuses as well as offenders who are prosecuted and sentenced. Guests will also learn what consent means from both a male and female perspective and the steps they should take if they or someone they know is sexually assaulted. “My hope is that students who attend this seminar will understand how easy it is to fall victim to sexual assault and the proactive steps they can take to prevent that from happening,” said Yoakum. “At the same time, I believe parents will walk away equipped with the necessary tools to have a conversation about this sensitive issue with their children.” Sexual assault is any sexual act in which a person is forced to engage against their will. This may include unwanted touching by a stranger or someone you know. One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted while in college. However, more than 90% of sexual assault victims on college campuses do not report the assault. Preregistration is encouraged; walk-ins are welcome. For more information or to register, call (269) 927-5361. Visit www.lakelandhealth.org or find Lakeland Health on Facebook or Twitter for more classes and events.
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