The supervisor’s position was the topic of a heated discussion during the work session preceding the Feb. 9 Lysander Town Board meeting. The board is considering whether it will reduce the position of supervisor from full-time to part-time in 2016.
During the 2011 election, the Lysander First “JAM” coalition — Supervisor John Salisbury, Councilor Andy Reeves and Deputy Supervisor Melinda Shimer — made reducing the supervisor’s position to part-time part of their platform, but the board has not tackled the issue until now.
Reeves said with this fall’s election approaching, potential candidates for supervisor need to know whether the seat they’re running for will be part-time or full-time.
Republican Councilors Bob Geraci and Roman Diamond criticized the timing of the discussion, as it is an election year.
“I don’t think this is the year to be doing it,” Diamond said.
“I wish … this discussion happened in 2012 when you guys came on board, as opposed to [now],” Geraci said.
Reeves said the board made other issues a priority before discussing the supervisor’s position. He referenced the 2012 transfer of development rights (TDR) debacle, in which the town spent nearly $250,000 trying to get the program off the ground.
“We ran on that, making it a part-time job,” Reeves said. “We never counted on a TDR thing that ate itself. We never counted on getting the ice rink back, but we had to get a handle on it, and it’s a good thing.”
Geraci and Diamond said it was time for the board to look to the future and not dwell on the problems of past administrations.
“Your excuse has been you’ve been fixing the last administration’s mess. That’s garbage,” Diamond said.
Geraci suggested the town “start small” in discussing the role of the supervisor and how the town could be best served.
“Are we doing something that, at the end of the day, is better than what we have?” Geraci asked. “Forget the politics of the previous administration — what do you think?”
Diamond seeks ‘philosophical direction’
Both Geraci and Diamond said the board should examine the role of a town supervisor and what makes that position full-time or part-time. Diamond said he wanted to discuss the “philosophical direction” of what it means to be town supervisor.
“I look at that as a secondary question,” Reeves said, adding the town should examine what “voids” it has in its services and “concentrate on the opportunities we have now.”
Reeves said the decision of what to do with the supervisor’s position has many variables: budget concerns, existing staff at town hall and how the supervisor’s duties overlap with those of the comptroller’s. Lysander Comptroller David Rahrle recently retired from his full-time position with the town but is still working as comptroller on a part-time basis.
According to Reeves, having a town manager might put the supervisor on more equal footing with the town councilors by relieving the supervisor of day-to-day administrative duties.
“What we need to do is make this building an operational building and a non-political building, and a manager situation may help along those lines,” he said. “A supervisor can overstep their authority — a manager can’t do that because the manager reports to the whole board.”
Reeves also said a manager could help with some of the face-to-face interaction with town residents.
“You could end up with a supervisor like me, and my interpersonal skills — or lack thereof,” Reeves said.
Diamond said his vision of a town supervisor would be more accessible and a stronger advocate for the town.
“I’d like to see a town supervisor hold night hours once a month,” he said. “I’d like to see a town supervisor go to Albany and lobby with our senators and our assemblymen, bringing money back.”
“Don’t you think that makes it a little too political?” asked Deputy Supervisor Melinda Shimer.
Geraci said a town manager could take care of routine phone calls, bills and other administrative duties.
“The supervisor would be the political figurehead of the town,” Geraci said.
Geraci posed the question of what makes a supervisor full-time or part-time, given that an elected official’s is not as quantifiable as the average worker’s.
“Is it the salary that determines that, or do we say you don’t have to show up as often?” he said.
Town attorney Tony Rivizzigno said the pay scale determines that.
“I couldn’t have done the work that we’ve been doing part-time, but I do believe with proper staffing … it can be done,” Salisbury said.
Diamond asked Salisbury if he keeps a log of what he accomplishes each day. Salisbury said he does not, but estimated that his pay boils down to less than $20 per hour — “less than the highway” employees, he said. Salisbury added that Diamond told him he devotes one and a half to two hours per week to town business, which he said is equivalent to $90 per hour for Diamond.
“It’s really not a discrete piece of information,” Shimer said of a schedule for the supervisor. “I trust that John gets done what he needs to get done.”
Other towns weigh in
Rivizzigno is looking into how other towns balance the day-to-day financial and managerial duties. The towns of DeWitt and Manlius each have a part-time supervisor and a town manager.
Calls to DeWitt Town Supervisor Ed Michalenko and Town Manager Mike Moracco were not returned, but Manlius Town Supervisor Ed Theobald and Van Buren Town Supervisor Claude Sykes weighed in. Van Buren does not have a town manager.
“The job cannot be done part-time and done right,” said Sykes, who works full time and draws a salary of $30,000 per year. Sykes also receives a pension from the village of Baldwinsville.
Sykes said a supervisor’s job involves more than just showing up to the office for eight hours a day. Supervisors must attend meetings and public events and be available to answer constituents’ questions.
“It’s full time plus — there’s no question,” he added. “You end up going to the grocery store and somebody stops you. … Anybody that says they can do it on a part-time basis doesn’t know.”
On top of his part-time position as Manlius town supervisor, Theobald works full time as an independent financial advisor.
“Sometimes I feel like I have two ‘full-time’ part-time jobs,” he said.
Having a town manager lightens some of Theobald’s load. Manlius’ town code outlines the town manager’s responsibilities: to “minimize the administrative details now handled by the town supervisor, to provide centralized direction and control of town employees and to formalize the staff and advisory functions.”
“That person is my right-hand person,” Theobald said of Town Manager Ann Oot, whose position is part-time.
“I have tremendous support staff,” he added. “It depends on the makeup of the town hall.”
Salisbury said at the Feb. 9 meeting that he does not have sufficient staff to make his position part-time.
Sykes said a town manager with proper experience and a political science degree would command a $70,000 salary. Even if Salisbury’s current salary of $52,955 per year was whittled down to $30,000, the town would lose money.
“Where’s your savings?” Sykes said.
Since a town manager would not be an elected official, Sykes said there is the possibility that the manager’s perspective on running the town would not match town officials’.
“A town manager looks at things differently than a town supervisor would,” he said. “Unless the town manager, the town supervisor and the town board are all on the same page … it’s going to end up being a conflict.”
What’s next?
There’s no consensus yet on what Lysander will do with the supervisor’s position, either within the town’s government or outside the town.
“I’m not set in any direction at all, but it is something we have to look at,” Reeves said.
“I think even as a full-time supervisor, you would still possibly need a town manager as well,” Theobald said. “It’s not so much about the time you put in, but the quality of service you put in.”
In Sykes’ opinion, Lysander should just let well enough alone.
“I think the public’s best served if they leave it alone and keep it full time,” he said.
