Exactly how many hours did they waste on this subject?

Exactly where is the defamation?

I think everybody is making way too much over nothing. Whenever there is change at the top, whether in government, private, not-for-profit, non-profit or even voluntary settings, most staff members spend at least a couple of restless nights fearing that they will lose their jobs. To waste so much council time on such a useless topic is shameful.

I don't think the Council was telling the City Manager "not to perform his duties" nor do I feel their actions were either "violation of charter" as the manager suggests or a comment on his past job performance. I think the city manager is WAY overreacting. As a lame duck manager (and this is assuredly what he is, particularly when he is taking vacation to finish out the end of his term), it would be in the best interest of the city for him to allow the new manager to make significant personnel decisions. If there is a serious matter requiring hiring/firing, etc., the Council could be consulted at that time. If the manager wants to take this suggestion as a slam at him, he can do so, but it is a childish reaction and one I am sure he will regret when he thinks about it more.

George Brunner is a very smart guy. He would not have brought this up if there was no reason for it. The Council is watching - if Scheiffer isn't doing anything wrong, then why his big huff? He for sure knows what this is about. Now the entire City is watching, so lets see if Scheiffer makes any promotions of his cronies and demotions or firing of people that didn't agree with him. This has been happening for years. Talk to any former council member. If the Council had "named names", you know those people would be fired in a heartbeat.

tnimmo...Are you over high school yet??!!

What if there was no planned favoritism?

What if the council's statements inappropriately affected the city manager's actions?!

I'd be willing to bet there really isn't anyone that feels too awfully threatened.

I'd bet there's evidence that some folks might be unnecessarily promoted (favoritism) right before Sheiffer leaves Janesville. Now the whole City is watching more closely and that's a good thing. Kudos to the City Council for shedding light on a very public matter AND protecting the city employees who will be here yet for a long time in service. "Thank You" to George and Amy, and the rest of the Council.

Seabee, unfortunantely most of the activities you suggested involved paying fees, which many are minor, but not everyone can afford that. I as a child was lucky to have parents who could afford such expensises, but now as a 21 year old woman there aren't a whole heck of a lock for kids. what happened to that amazon station place? maybe they should bring something like that back so kids have a place to "hang out" while being chaparoned

hey there janesvillefirst- you hit the nail on the head! Good for you, it needed to be said along time ago.

I agree with Janesvillefrist how ever the concern should be over the loos of jobs at gm an the other company that anounced there closeing there plant in July we cant keep takeing hits like this.We need to start looking for ways to bring new companies in so we dont have to depend on gm.GM goes to one shift in July.This is the area the city needs to work on is bringing jobs to the city.

I wonder if these people feel threatened because they are not doing their jobs?

I watched the Concil meeting last night on JATV 12. There appeared to be some grandstanding by the previous council president and the current one. Both should know (particularily the former having been a city department head) that what he was suggesting was very inappropriate, if not bordering on unlawful. The council has it's mandates and should follow them. Making these kinds of suggestions to the City Manager is not one of them.

seabee: right on the money....again!

I don't feel this issue is one regarding Mr.Sheiffer's job performance. He has had numerous glorious evaluations byt he council. The City Manager is the day to day operations guy who follows the policy decided by the council. This human resource issue falls under the realm of the city manager position. It does not matter if Mr. Sheiffer is retiring or anything else, as long as he holds the title of city manager, he manages these issues and human resource policy is in place to provide grievance of any issues. A city council member should not, during a public meeting, make comments as Councilmember Brunner made. It just causes problems and accuzations are started without a mentioned and named source. This is not the correct fashion to discuss issues such as this. Personnal issues are basically regulated to what can and can't be shared. Councilman Brunner should have brought this issue to the city manager or human resource person and handled it internally. This is not hiding anything from the public, but causes additional strife in the structure of government. Ant needed information will be uncovered and shared with the public by the media or council members.
I do feel this is a character issue brought before the council without sources shared. If the council wants promotions to be placed on hold.
This is not a debate on the performance of the city manager. To share my opinion since I have never made public comment regarding the city manager but back in 1989 when I was an eighteen year old city council candidate, Mr. Sheiffer displayed nothing but respect, fair equal sharing of information and provided encouragement and best wishes for my campaign. I was a assistant manager at a restaurant running against influencial and respected candidates. Mr. Sheiffer always displayed dignity toward me and respected my comments. He has continued to do so now that I am pushing 38 years old. I am aware of his strengths and his areas of improvement, but from my personal opinion he never once, to my face or displayed an action which would have brought question to his judgement in personnal issues or his competency of running this city. Many would disagree with me, but I have nothing but respect and for the many years the city manager has shown committment and dedication to growth and making this a strong community, to present a public statement accusing him of some character flaw prior to his retirement is unfathomable in my opinion.
The request was an attempt to direct the city manager to not do part of the job he was chosen and has done for many years with many councils providing glowing job performance evaluations. In a public forum, a name of the source should be provided or handle in as laws and policy has established.

InvolvedParent: Nothing for kids???? Check out the calendar at www.rockcountyarts.com. There is a glut of activities for all ages for anyone who simply takes the time to look. If there isn't an activity you are interested in (hard to believe!), then take some initiative and be "pro" thinking yourself...join in, initiate, or even organize others around your own interests rather than waiting for others/city government to entertain you/your kids.

Involved parent, "There is nothing here for kids??!!" First off, I find your premise that there needs to be something here for kids, provided by the council and manager, i.e taxpayers, i.e. me, an insult. Entertain your own kids. That being said, lets take a look at all the "nothing" we have here for kids. YMCA, health club, walking/bike trails, movie theatres, youth groups, boy/girlscouts, 4h, little league, football league, multiple school sponsored activities, parks close to every neighborhood, public golf courses, mini-golf, batting cages, fishing in multiple locations around the city, ice rink, swimming pools, and im sure there are a few things I missed. Perhaps you need to work on your parenting and take an interest in helping your kids find these nothings for them to do. As far as kids leaving Janesville when they grow up, the reason is simple, for the college educated ones anyway, the reason is that this state is such a tax hell for business and individuals, that college grads see no point in staying here when for the same amount of work they will get paid more and keep more of their own money in another state, and thats a huge incentive when you are 30 grand in the hole from student loans.

Is it possible the concern city employee(s) may have is not the firing but the hiring potential of Steve?
It's hard to fire people these days with fitness reports, Human Resources, Performance documentation. Maybe employees are worried that Steve would hire a few of his cronies into positions just before he retires? Jobs that other employees are qualified or feel qualified for and may be passed over as they are not "in" with present management?
Just a thought... a different take on the issue.

involvedparent, there's something here for the kids, they're called parents.

Balancepoint, I like the council. And I've never believed that Sheiffer had undo power over any of the councils or the city. Just about all the complaints about him came from people who, for some reason, need a boogie-man.

If he's abusing his power now that doesn't mean the council should overstep its bounds.

Talk about drama...some people never get over high school I guess...

“I don’t know where this is coming from,” Sheiffer said.
Gee a judge found you illegally fired someone in violation of the ADA and then lied about it in court. I have an idea where this is coming from....past behavior.

We need a forward thinking City Manager, someone who has a "pro" instead "con" attitude. Someone that is going to help this community keep our kids out of trouble and give them something to do. We have made changes in the city council recently - hopefully that and a new city manager will move Janesville in the right direction. This town is anti-youth - there is nothing here for the kids. No wonder they all want to grow up and move away. It's time for Sheiffer to leave -- NOW!

I think people are afraid that he may have personal grudge against someone or more than one person, and could possible fire them on his way out and really have to andwer for it, especialy after he said that some openings may be good for his replacement, so that person could fill the openings with people they wanted!!!!

Gazettefan, "Suspicious City Employees should just take it up with the City Manager." Obviously, they fear for their jobs, or they would take it up with him. The employees are citizens also, and should be able to go over his head if they feel it is warranted. Why all this now? Maybe the Mgr is trying to align people to carry on "his" vision for the City. Maybe he plans to fire all the people that weren't in his corner. Who knows. Kudos to the Council for calling him on it. That took guts, both for the employees and for the Council. Like someone else said, he knows what this is about. This is the Council we have needed for a long time. City Government will no longer be "of Steve Scheiffer, by Steve Scheiffer, and for Steve Scheiffer."

The power to hire/fire/promote city personnel is vested in the Janesville City Manager. I am not sure if it is the City Charter Ordinances or State Statute that dictate that, but irregardless, the city manager is the CEO of the city. The city council telling the city manager not to do his lawful duty is a usurping of power. If they do not like the job he is doing, they need to take that up in the proper manner. Until the council removes the city manager, or he resigns, the city manager has the duty and obligations to perform all the functions of his job.

LongTimeGone, this part of your last paragraph is contradictory:

".... a Google search did not reveal any previous personnel issues with city staff, the council is right to hit the pause button."

"[no] previous personnel issues with city staff ..." means the council has no reason to get involved. It also has no legal authority to get involved.

I didn't mean that the council should name names. I meant that the employees involved should deal directly with the city manager.

Jason Dowd, your post is right-on. We can't undo the orderly way in which this city is run. Suspicious city employees should just take the matter up with the city manager. Sheiffer just wants to know who he should be talking to.

while I agree with all posters thus far, I am glad that no names were brought into the discussion at this point. the council member has an obligation to maintain confidentiality until the proper people have been contacted.

I agree that proper chains of command need to be maintained in order to not undermine authority. Undermining one's authority in an organization or business is sure to be the demise of trusting relationships.

Long_Time_Gone- I couldn't have said it better!!! (Well maybe I could add a few words)"CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM" Welcome NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS !!!

Jason Dowd - while your comment is reasonable, I take a different tack.
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The request by the city council to freeze personnel moves prior to contracting with a new city manager is equally reasonable. The city manager is clearly an insightful person - certainly he knows what is behind this hub-bub.
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His remarks do not shed any light on why, from a "manangement" duty, this freeze would harm the city in any way. His "name names" is highly defensive. His raising "defamation" issues almost seems planned - like he has already talked to outside legal counsel on his options to squeeze the city should the council pass such a resolution.
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While it should be appreciated by the city that it appears the city manager is giving 110% right up to the final day of his contract, and a Google search did not reveal any previous personnel issues with city staff, the council is right to hit the pause button. In fact, some might suggest that the council is finally demonstrating some hands-on attention to city hall.

I know there is some disagrement and opinions of the city manager in this community, but I feel the city council in making this request of the city manager is micro-managing government.
The council is a policy making body and the day to day operations according to those policies are the city manager to make. Regardless of anyone's opinion of Mr. Sheiffer that if the council wants to take a role in directing the city manager in doing his job, a policy should be developed which gives that authority to the council. By doing this, the structure of a council-manager system would be weakened and we might as well elect a Mayor if we can not trust the person hired to handle personnal issues and the daily operation of city government.
I am disappointed that some council members feel it appropriate to make public comment regarding personnal issues and then refuse to provide the names of those who are making statements. Mr. Sheiffer is correct in stating the proper channels need to be followed and if this issue is brought forth in a public open meeting, names of those indivduals should be public knowledge. Otherwise, let the manager run the operation of the city until a new manager is hired. Sheiffer has been here for years and I doubt any drastic or extreme changes are going to be made prior to a new manger being hired.
Go ahead people, rip me apart now. At least I provide my name and do not hide behind false screen names. I think Sheiffer has a very good argument on this issue.
Jason Dowd