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Lincoln Daily News
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
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Dear Mayor Goodman & Lincoln City Council members,
I know many of you, but for the sake of anyone I do not know, my
name is Blinn Bates. I live in the City of Lincoln, own a home here,
my children attend school here, and I own and operate a business
here. I proudly attended District #27 schools, graduated from LCHS,
and have made Lincoln my home since my graduation from law school. I
now own and operate a business that my Grandfather and others
started in Lincoln in 1972.
I contact you today as a lifelong citizen of this City, and a
concerned one. The Council will take up for consideration on March
2, 2020 the “City Administrator’s Proposed Resolution Amendment to
Add Language to New Section 8, ‘Being kept apprised of all City
Operations.’” This Agenda item first appeared on the Committee of
the Whole Agenda dated February 25, 2019. While the title of the
Agenda item is innocent enough, the language of the actual Ordinance
does much more than what is indicated.
Along with the change that is specifically stated within the Agenda
item, the language of the Ordinance would substantially reduce the
job responsibilities of the City Administrator by 1) eliminating the
responsibility of the Administrator to ensure meeting agendas are
prepared; 2) removing supervisory responsibility of City department
heads; and 3) eliminating responsibility for preparation of the City
budget.
If these changes to the job description of the City Administrator
are accepted by the Council and this Ordinance is passed, the
position of City Administrator will be deemed useless. The City
would essentially be paying Ms. Kavelman to hold a job title with no
substantive job responsibilities.
I believe the position of City Administrator is a vitally important
one for our community to grow and thrive, and I have seen,
firsthand, the benefits of a talented Administrator. The annual
budget of the City of Lincoln is approximately $22,500,000. You will
not find a CEO of a private company of that magnitude that is not
highly qualified, extremely talented, and well trained to perform
the demanding tasks of their position. In order to find someone that
possesses those traits, it requires sufficient compensation. This is
not a position that should be bargain-shopped.
[to top of second column in this letter] |
The individual that currently occupies the position
of City Administrator possesses none of the necessary qualifications
for the position, and is not capable to perform the tasks the
position requires. The fact that the Council is even considering
passing this Ordinance signifies the agreement of each and every one
of you that Ms. Kavelman is not capable of doing the job that she
was hired to perform. Neutering the position itself to avoid Ms.
Kavelman being held accountable to perform the tasks she was hired
to accomplish is not the answer.
If I were hired by a trucking company to drive a
semi-truck and haul freight, that trucking company would be in a
precarious position because I do not possess the necessary skills to
drive a semi-truck. I could have the best of intentions, but, even
if I were able to get the semi moving down the road, I would be
putting my employer and everyone I encountered at risk. My employer
would likely get sued when I injure someone or lose control and hit
an unsuspecting pedestrian. I would also more than likely cause my
employer financial harm when I inevitably cause damage to the truck.
When my employer learned that I did not possess the necessary
qualifications to do the job, do you think they would give me a
raise to just sit in the truck? Absolutely not. My employment would
be terminated IMMEDIATELY. The result should be the same in the
situation the City Council is faced with.
At some point in time, each and every member of the City Council
took an Oath of Office and swore to faithfully discharge the duties
of their office. Continuing to allow this charade to continue does
not live up to that promise. Spending another dime of taxpayer
dollars on an obviously incapable employee does not, in my opinion,
fulfill the obligations you all have made.
The passage of this Ordinance is not the answer. Deep down, I
believe each of you knows what the answer is. For yourselves, for
the Citizens of the City of Lincoln, for the businesses that we
still have, and for the future of the City, I implore you to do the
right thing.
Sincerely,
Blinn Bates
Editor's note: To allow a balanced perspective, Lincoln Daily
News offered the council an opportunity to respond to Bates' letter,
which arrived Wednesday evening, but received no response. [Posted
February 29,
2020]
Click here to send a note to the editor about this letter.
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