CM charter proposal gets ballot OK

By Charles Sercombe
It will now be up to voters to OK the requirements to be hired as a Hamtramck city manager.
State officials approved the language of the proposed charter ballot question that will appear in the August Primary Election, which will be held on Aug. 7.
City Councilmembers are seeking to change the requirements in order to cast a wider net for candidates who can qualify for the job. Currently, the city’s requirements have prevented a number of candidates from being considered for the job.
The existing requirement calls for a candidate for the job as city manager to have held that position — or the position of assistant city manager — for at least three years in a city with a population of at least 10,000.
In the most recent search for a new city manager, only three out of 38 candidates met those qualifications.
And out of those three, the city’s search firm recommended only one candidate to be considered.
City officials ended up rejecting that one candidate and decided to have a member of the city administration continue as acting city manager. Kathy Angerer has been acting city manager since July of 2017.
The proposed change opens it up to include candidates with: “a minimum of three years experience as a chief municipal administrator, assistant chief municipal administrator, or equivalent governmental experience, and be the holder of a degree from an accredited college or university.”
But — and this a big exception — the city council and mayor can override the requirements and hire someone who doesn’t fit that description by a super majority vote of 3/5ths.