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assistant city manager

Assistant City Manager resigns for another opportunity in Monroe County

By Joanne Beck

After about a year as Batavia's assistant city manager, Jill Wiedrick has resigned her post for a job in Monroe County, City Manager Rachael J. Tabelski says. 

Wiedrick was hired in June 2021 as a lifelong resident of Western New York and 15 years of experience in local government. She had been the senior county planner for Genesee County and was manager of zoning for the City of Rochester when she was hired for the assistant manager position.

"I would like to congratulate Jill Wiedrick, Assistant City Manager, for her time with the City of Batavia.  She is moving to a new job with the Village of Fairport.  It was a pleasure to work with Jill, and I wish her all the best in her career pursuit," Tabelski said in an emailed response to The Batavian. "Her last day with the City of Batavia is Friday May 13, 2022.  The City will actively advertise the position of Assistant City Manager in the near future to fill the position."

 

File photo of Jill Wiedrick 

City selects current zoning manager for Rochester and former Batavia resident as assistant city manager

By Press Release

Press release:

The City of Batavia Manager Rachael J. Tabelski announces the appointment of Jill M. Wiedrick, member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, to the position of assistant city manager. Wiedrick was selected following an extensive search for candidates.

A lifelong resident of Western New York, Wiedrick holds a master's degree in Urban Planning from the University at Buffalo and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. She has served in local government for the last 15 years, including senior county planner for Genesee County. She currently holds the position of manager of zoning for the City of Rochester.

Wiedrick has extensive background in land use, planning, community engagement, as well as policy development. She has experience in municipal budgeting, permitting, and the use of technology to create efficiencies for local government.

“I believe that Jill has the unique skills and leadership qualities we need in the City of Batavia to advance our mission and strategic priorities. She will be responsible for different projects in the City including: administrative services, organizational risk management, organizational values, community & neighborhood development, public relations, information technology and the continued implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Jill will also work directly on the City’s annual budget, capital planning and other initiatives on behalf of the City,” said Rachael J. Tabelski, City of Batavia City manager.

A member of the Genesee Symphony, Wiedrick currently lives in the City of Rochester with her husband, Andrew, and their two children, Ty and Jolene. As a former resident of the City of Batavia, Wiedrick is excited to return to the area and put her experience to work for the residents of Batavia.

Bialkowski: City Council has responsibility to conduct professional search for a new manager

By Mike Pettinella

The Batavia City Council member who requested that the “process to hire a new city manager” item be placed on this past Monday’s meeting agenda says it is the board’s duty to invest the time and effort necessary to hire the right person for the job.

“I’m a firm believer that we owe it to the citizens of Batavia to do a search and find the most qualified person, and anyone that wants can submit an application. I think that’s important because if we don’t, then the innuendo and rumors will be flying,” Robert Bialkowski said by telephone on Tuesday.

Council discussed the matter for about nine minutes during its Conference Meeting at City Hall, exploring its options as it looks to find a permanent replacement for departed City Manager Martin Moore.

Assistant City Manager Rachael Tabelski has been serving at acting city manager since June 22, two days after the City and Moore severed their relationship.

Bialkowski said he put the topic on the agenda because “I wanted Council to make a decision – let’s move forward.”

He said he wasn’t pleased with the placement on the agenda, being that it wasn’t positioned as an item that would result in a resolution.

“If you look at the Conference agenda, it was under the Council president explaining the process,” he said. “I’m noticing some unusual things.”

The councilperson-at-large said the board should take advantage of a “warranty” offered by The Novak Consulting Group, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based firm that conducted the search that resulted in Moore’s hiring in August 2018.

“The company offered a full warranty if the manager either was terminated or left on his own accord within two years, and they will stand behind that warranty,” he stated. “You’re not going to find another company to do it any more reasonable."

When the subject came up during the meeting, Council Member Kathleen Briggs asked if a hiring freeze in effect would pertain to filling the position at this time.

After both Council President Eugene Jankowski and Tabelski said it was for part-time employees and didn’t apply to a vacancy, the former suggested contacting Novak to inform its leadership team of the City’s situation.

“Let’s see what kind of feedback we get from them and move forward,” Jankowski said. “It’s only been a few weeks but we don’t want to wait too long.”

At that point, Tabelski indicated that she is interested in the position.

That prompted Jankowski to mention some options – starting a new search and following it through or putting the matter on hold for a month. He then said more details would be discussed in executive session after the Aug. 10 meeting.

“I think we should reach out and see what our option is with that other agency first and once we have that information, we’d have more to decide,” he said.

Council Member John Canale concurred, adding that “most likely we will reach out to them at some point; so, kind of put them on notice.”

“I agree with Bob that it’s important to start the process and then we can, in executive session at some point, get together and start to talk about the candidates,” he said.

Jankowski, choosing his words carefully, then said there were three options.

“If you think about it there are only three options – you can do a whole search and hire somebody, keep what we have in place and make that offer or a combination of both … there’s only three choices there,” he said. “We need to know if that other option (Novak) is off the table for some reason – the company’s no longer in business or they don’t see it the way we see it – that would be an important thing to know.”

Bialkowski said he did an internet search on the company and found that it not only is still in business, but it has expanded.

“The contract we signed with them … the guarantee for this position is two years,” he said. “Should the selected candidate leave or be terminated from the position within two years of being hired, The Novak Consulting Group will conduct a new search for no professional recruiting fee.”

Jankowski said it behooved the board to find out what expenses the City may incur by conducting a new search.

“At a time when things are tight, I want to know exactly what kind of money we’re going to be talking here. … Let’s get some more information and bring in back for August,” he said.

He then asked Tabelski to contact Novak Consulting Group, and she, in turn, said she would assign Human Resources Specialist Dawn Fairbanks “to make those inquiries … so I would not have any knowledge of the process you may or may not entertain as you move forward, working with the city attorney.”

Bialkowski was known to be a supporter of Moore, and he acknowledged that he did vote “no” during the executive session that followed Council’s June 8th meeting. Less than two weeks later, Moore was gone.

Asked on Tuesday if he had hard feelings over Moore’s departure, he said, “I can’t comment on that because it was in executive session. But what I can comment on if you look at the minutes, I did vote “no.” (The vote was 8-1). That’s all I can say.”

Bialkowski then was asked why a vote was necessary if Moore had indeed resigned, which is what he had been quoted as saying in a story in a local newspaper.

“What do you want me to tell you? I know what you want me to tell you but you’re on a fishing trip with no bait,” he responded. “Everything else, we are bound by lawyer, attorney-client privilege in executive session."

He said that finding Moore's replacement is “totally impersonal.”

“I don’t care who applies,” he said. “I can only encourage people to apply.”

Council president starting to see benefits of assistant city manager

By Howard B. Owens

Two years ago, several members of the City Council, including Eugene Jankowski, expressed reservations about creating the position of assistant city manager.

Even after Gretchen DiFante was hired, some members tried to undo what had been done.

After a budget session Monday night where the council learned of an initiative DiFante has been deeply involved in that will save the city nearly $240,000, Jankowski said maybe this assistant city manager job wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"She's been multitasking on many different projects and now I'm starting to see some results on that," said Jankowski, now president of the council. "I'm thinking at this point, if that continues, that's going to be a good thing. More heads in the game kind of making these decisions is helping out, instead of Jason (Molino, city manager) trying to do all of this on his own."

What has gotten Jankowski's attention, along with the rest of the council, is a plan to switch the city's workers' compensation insurance to a self-funded pool instead of purchasing insurance.

Premiums and other related expenses keep going up. In 2011, workers comp cost the city $229,520. The projected 2016 expense, if the city kept with the current system, would exceed $700,000.

The self-funded plan will be an estimated $238,660 less than the state plan.

Several members of city staff, including Molino, have worked on the new program, but DiFante, who earns $75,000 a year, has taken the lead on research and organization and made the presentation during Monday's budget session.

Jankowski also noted that DiFante's efforts in the city's flood insurance program are also saving taxpayers money.

"I'm starting to see the assistant city manager is making a big difference in these areas," Jankowski said.

He cautioned, however, that it's the council's job to monitor how city management is doing and ensure things continue to move in a positive direction, and if that changes, take action to get the city back on track.

"The council needs to make sure things get directed and redirected so it doesn't cost taxpayers more money," Jankowski said.

Monday, the council heard reports from several department heads, including police and fire, on proposed spending for 2016-17 and nothing seemed to raise any red flags with council members. The meeting was controversy free. Jankowski said he doesn't anticipate that changing as the council works through the budget, because prior years have pretty much weeded out questionable expenses and the city is now on a sound financial footing.

The proposed spending from all funds for 2016-17 is $24,798,158. The general fund expenditure is proposed at $16,204,570. That's an annual increase of $499,806.

Under the proposed plan, the property tax would increase by 13 cents, putting the rate a $9.29 per thousand of assessed value. The tax levy would increase by $55,621, or 1.10 percent.

The city needs to take advantage of its own turnaround and the overall positive direction of the national economy, Jankowski said, and look to the future.

"Now is the time to build," Jankowski said. "The economy seems to be growing slowly across the country, so now we can start to slowly build on our end of it."

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