Board: Let Mayor Take On Administrator Duties

At last Wednesday's meeting of the Wentzville Board of Aldermen, the board decided not to hire an interim city administrator, but instead to have Mayor Nick Guccione take on extra duties with the help of an assistant.

Ward 1 Alderman Forrest Gossett said that he was comfortable with the mayor filling the position. "These are extraordinary circumstances," Gossett said, and suggested that the mayor "lean on the board and staff" for support.

Alderman Cheryl Kross wasn't quite so comfortable with putting extra work on the staff, emphasizing that many of the staff are new to their positions.

“You’re so new, you don’t even know where some of the bathrooms are,” she said.

Alderman Chris Gard said that he found it disheartening to see how much the city paid for its last interim city administrator. He said that he had faith in the city's staff. 

"Mike’s intention was not to try to micromanage the directors. He let them run the departments and handle the day-to-day operations of the city," Gard said, referring to City Administrator Mike McDowell, who passed away on August 9.

Guccione said that he couldn't be in the position 24-7, but that he was willing to do what he could.

City Attorney Paul Rost said that there were no legal obstacles to Guccione taking up the slack, except that he could not take on an additional title. If he was to do that, Rost said, "the law assumes you resigned the first job."

So for now, the City of Wentzville has no official Acting or Interim City Administrator, but they are moving ahead with recruiting specialists The Mercer Group to find candidates for the permanent City Administrator position.