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Appointment issue faces vote

JANESVILLE — The Janesville City Council will vote a second time Monday on something it thought it had already done: shifting the power of committee appointments from the city manager to residents.

Council President Amy Loasching said the council is revisiting the issue because of a misunderstanding between the council and the administration.

Before, the manager filled vacancies on city committees, such as the plan and historic commissions, the zoning board of appeals and the alcohol licensing and transportation committees.

Last year, the council created a citizens advisory committee to make recommendations to the council president on filling vacancies. The president would then forward the names to the council for confirmation.

"The intention was to take the power away from the city manager and basically put it in the hands of the committee," Loasching said.

"The administration didn't take it the same," Loasching said. "There was some confusion there."

Rather, the administration drafted language that had the citizens committee make its recommendation to the city manager.

"That was not at all what we had discussed," Loasching said.

The council at the time even timed the process so that the council president could make his or her recommendations before a new council was seated in April, Loasching said.

The council also created an application process with application forms.

Before, "It was just whoever the city manager picked," Loasching said.

"I want the citizens to see every application that comes in," she said. "I don't want them screened by anyone working for the city."

No council member sits on the advisory committee, either.

"To me, it's a more thorough process," Loasching said. "It all has to do with transparency and accountability."

The council almost immediately discovered that the new language did not accomplish what the council had intended, Loasching said. But members decided to wait to revisit the issue until after Eric Levitt, the new city manager, arrived so "everyone was on the same page."

Jay Winzenz was acting city manager at the time.

Public hearings are scheduled Monday relating to those committees that are governed by charter ordinances and ordinances. Some committees are governed by policy, and policy changes to not require public hearings.

ON THE AGENDA

The Janesville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in City Hall, 18 N. Jackson St.

Council members will hold an informal listening session with residents beginning at 6 p.m.

Items on the agenda include:

-- Action on a motion to endorse Forward Janesville's 2009-10 legislative priorities.

-- Action to approve an exchange of land adjoining 3304 Hemingway Drive.

-- Public hearings on changes in the appointment process for city committees.