Ogallala is currently advertising for a economic development coordinator, and the salary starts at $57,203 and ranges to $81,471 based on experience.
Alliance recently advertised for a city manager with the salary range of $83,000 to $100,000. The Lexington city manager earns $96,000, the Kearney city manager earns $155,167 and the city administrator of Gothenburg (population 3,619) makes up to $75,000.
Gary Person, serving in the dual role as Sidney City Manager and Cheyenne County Economic Development Director earns a salary of just less than $97,000, of which $20,000 is paid from the Cheyenne County Keno proceeds. In other words, the city is only responsible for paying $77,000 of his salary.
At the Jan. 12 city council meeting, Councilman Bob Van Vleet made a motion to change the language of City Ordinance 1206 that reads in part “The Director of the (Economic Development) Department shall be the City Manager or a person designated by him or her with the approval of Council.”
Van Vleet proposed the word “shall” be changed to the word “may,” giving the council the option to have the city manager and economic development director positions split into two jobs instead of the dual position held by Person.
At the time he made the motion, Van Vleet said “We have the best economic development person in the state of Nebraska and maybe the Midwest. I don’t see why we waste his time and talents on street sweeping, garbage collection and other mundane duties. I just think it would be more efficient to divide those two jobs.”
(The video excerpt of this is available on YouTube and can be found by searching for Sidney City Council.)
Now, in a letter to the editor published last Saturday, Van Vleet writes of Person “I think he would be a good city manager if he would do it full-time and let the chamber take care of economic development.”
I am confused Mr. Van Vleet. Why would we want the best economic development person in the Midwest to abandon the position for the sake of managing the city when he seems to be handling both roles very well and at a bargain price?
I am reminded of those scenes from courtroom dramas on television where the lawyer asks “Were you telling the truth then or are you telling the truth now?”
