The process to find a new Bloomington City Manager could begin shortly after the next municipal election. Voters will go the polls to elect a mayor and some aldermen April 4, 2017.
Aldermen voted 8-1 during their meeting Monday evening to give City Manager David Hales an 18 month extension from the current expiration date of January 11, 2017, along with a 2.3 percent pay increase. His contact would expire on July 11, 2018. It's the shortest contract in Hales' history with the city, outside of a short contract when he was hired in 2008.
During Sound Ideas, Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said the process to evaluate City Manager David Hales and determine the length of a contract extension began back in October of 2015.
"What this does mean, assuming I run and am re-elected, pretty much after I get re-elected, assuming that happens and I'm sworn in, we're going to have to begin the process of seeking a new city manager and that would potentially involve an eight, nine, 10 month selection process," said Mayor Renner.
When asked if he expected another contract extension between today and July 11, 2018, Renner said that was not discussed by the city council or discussed with or brought up the city manager.
"The details of that personnel decision, I'm really not at liberty to talk about in public," said Renner
Renner, who is the former Director of Research for the International City/County Management Association said city managers generally work for a community for five to seven years. Hales' first contract was approved in December of 2008. A contract termination of July 11, 2018 would mean Hales tenure with the city would be approximately nine years, seven months.
"There's certainly nothing in the contract that would prevent Mr. Hales from, in a year or even before the contract is up, getting an offer from somewhere else," said Renner. "These are the kinds of things that do happen all the time."
Renner said his assumption the contract is for 18 months, but also said the council could change its mind and the city manager could conceivable change his mind.
Hales was rated as "competent," a rating in the middle of the five point scale. Renner said he saw no need to bring that rating higher.
"At this point, I don't know if we have to have things change," said Renner.
"What's the next phase of leadership and management in Bloomington going to look like as we go forward? We'd have other skill sets," said Renner. "For different times and different periods, you might want someone who has a great financial background, sometimes maybe you want somebody involved in economic development. These are the type of things that do change in the same city over time."
When asked for a comment, Hales sent a statement he's provided to other media: "It has been my pleasure to serve the City of Bloomington since 2009. I look forward to my future with the City and continuing to work on some very exciting economic development projects as well as guide the City’s long-term financial sustainability efforts.”
Reporter's note: This story was corrected to reflect that City Manager Hales received a "competent" rating in only the most recent evaluation period, not two consecutive periods.