The Galesburg city council will vote Monday on appointing an interim city manager – and the search for a new, permanent city manager won’t be far behind.
Former City Manager Gerald Smith reached a severance agreement with the city on June 12, after seven months on the job.
Now former Public Works Director Wayne Carl has agreed to come out of retirement and serve as interim city manager, a role he also took on last year between the time Todd Thompson left and Smith was hired.
Mayor Peter Schwartzman said Carl did a great job as interim city manager last year and several council members recommended his return.
“His own decision is based upon really just respect for the city and his acknowledgement that things have been a bit unstable. He can bring some stability to it and I think that’s out of his good will,” Schwartzman said.
Carl first came to the city of Galesburg in 2001 as an engineer, and became Public Works Director in 2015.
Director of Community Development Steve Gugliotta has been acting city manager since late May.
Smith’s short tenure
Smith was hired by the council on a 4-3 vote last year out of pool of 32 applicants. He was the city’s first Black city manager.
His departure came after the city was found to have violated the Open Meetings Act during closed session meetings in December, as well as accusations of partisanship. Four council members called a meeting to potentially fire him in May and there was an investigation into whether he violated the state’s eavesdropping statutes by recording conversations without permission.
It also came after Smith was notified of a federal discrimination complaint against the city three days into the job and he dealt with departures and vacancies in some key administrative roles and some public pushback from council members during meetings.
No charges were filed in the eavesdropping investigation.
In a letter to the city’s legal counsel following the investigation, Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin wrote there was “no evidence he had any malicious, illegal or political intent in making these recordings.”
“Mr. Smith’s full cooperation throughout the investigation reinforces this finding. The fact that he appears to have recorded every meeting, rather than selectively choosing ones, also supports this conclusion," the letter reads.
The evidence was also independently reviewed by the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor’s Office.
Smith requested separation from the city and is receiving 20 weeks pay as severance.
A new search
Now against the backdrop of Smith’s tenure and high-profile departure, the city will soon begin another search for a city manager.
Schwartzman told TSPR he does have some concerns about attracting applicants in the wake of Smith’s departure.
“When your last city manager was only here for seven months, that raises red flags, no matter what the reason,” Schwartzman said. “I think it will be a little more difficult to recruit someone on that basis. And as I’ve said previously, its incumbent upon the council to reassure any candidates that what may have occurred to the previous city manager is not reflective of a systemic issue with the council’s relationship with the administration.”
But the mayor also said he believes the Galesburg’s track record is historically good and there are many positives happening in the community that could attract good candidates for the city’s top administrative role.
“The city is in very good shape, frankly. I felt that way before Mr. Smith came and I feel this way now. Financially, we are in very good shape. I believe there are a lot of great initiatives that are launching in the community. The symphony, the arts, the library,” Schwartzman said.
Schwartzman said once the interim city manager is seated, the search will get started to find a permanent city manager.
GovHR USA conducted the last search for $24,500 and is technically still under contract, since it’s been less than a year since Smith was hired.
Schwarzman said the administration recommends using GovHR again, but that decision has not been finalized.
He is hoping the position can be advertised next month, candidates could be interview in August, with an offer made to the next city manager by late August or early September.
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