The Citizen 4/15/2009

Does Centerville Need A Full-Time Finance Director?
By Deb Barnes

The Centerville City Council is actively engaged in a search to replace former city finance director John Meyer, who retired last January for health reasons. But some Centerville citizens question whether the city really needs a full-time finance director.
Since Meyer’s departure, the city has relied on intermittent assistance from Abdo, Eick & Meyers, the city’s auditors, to keep its financial wheels turning.
Centerville is counting on cost savings realized by Meyer’s departure to help whittle its budget in 2009; even after accounting for the costs of temporary help until a new finance director is hired, it appears the city will be $22,000 ahead. But although the city may have been paying for a full-time finance director, Centerville resident Stephanie Blomseth wonders if it had one.

Records show that while Meyer was employed by the city of Centerville he actively pursued other work, both as a consultant to Minnesota municipalities and as a part-time employee of an engineering consulting firm in North Dakota.
Lightowler Johnson Associates in Fargo, N.D. lists Meyer as an employee on the company’s Web site. Meyer has worked up to 35 hours per week as Project Developer/ Finance Advisor for the architectural/engineering firm since July 1, 2005, sources say.

“I’m not aware of anything [concerning Meyer’s job performance] that would raise any huge red flags,” Larson told The Citizen. “If he was resourceful enough to generate a few dollars on the side in a consulting business, that’s fine, as long as it didn’t affect his job here.”
Several council members, including Tom Lee and Mayor Mary Capra, say they were aware that Meyer had a consulting business, a fact that Lee says was disclosed at the time of Meyer’s interview in 2004. But how much outside consulting he did, or whether Meyer arrived at City Hall “refreshed and ready for work” as the Personnel Policy requires, has apparently never been discussed.
Meyer did not return a phone call in time for this story.

To be fair, the above is only part of a much lengthier, detailed story. Of course, we chose to shorten it up for the blog. To read the entire article
Link HERE