The village council listened to nearly three hours of public comments during a special meeting on Tuesday night, before they voted down a motion that would have given them a chance to rescind Village Manager JoAnn Van Tassel’s termination, and then outlined procedures for the next manager.
The council agreed to give Van Tassel full managerial duties until Dec. 16, and a lump sum severance package, worth six months of pay and around 300 hours of vacation time, will be paid following approval in January.
In the meantime, a committee of council members Michael Toth and Julie Drabik, along with Council President Robert Reetz, will meet in the coming days to figure out a salary range and requirements for those interested in the manager’s position.
It is the committee’s goal to have something substantial back to council for their regular meeting next Monday. The position will be advertised through the Michigan Municipal League.
Prior to their actions on the future of the manager’s position, council listened to dozens of village residents, most speaking to their displeasure with the actions that were taken at the Nov. 12 meeting.
Many said they had an issue with the council not placing the item on an agenda prior to that evening. Only a few people in attendance spoke in favor of council’s decision during the meeting.
A motion made by Ken Van Portfliet would have added the option to “rescind” to the agenda. It failed 4-3, along the same voting lines as last week’s vote.
A subsequent motion would have needed a 2/3 majority, or five votes, to change their previous termination decision. In order to “reconsider” their previous motion, a new motion would have had to come forth from one of the majority voters.
For more on this story, come back to next week’s Lake Orion Review.