Delafield merges administrator, public works director posts

 City of Delafield - The Common Council approved tonight merging two of the city's top executive positions into one job and perhaps saving taxpayers as much as a million dollars over ten years.

With one dissenting vote, the council approved promoting Public Works Director Tom Hafner into the postion of interim City Administrator/Public Works Director for a five month trial period.

If the experiment proves successful by the end of the year, Hafner will permanently take over the two positions.

City officials have estimated the plan could save about $110,000 to $120,000 a year in salary and benefits that would have been paid to a new city administrator. Incumbent Administrator Tim Schuenke is retiring in July.

Some of those savings will used to increase compensation for Hafner, some public works employees assigned new responsibilities, and Accountant Marie Williams who is being promoted to a new position, Finance Officer/Budget Anaylst, according to the plan.

The remaining savings could total a million dollars over a ten year period, according to Mayor Ed McAleer.

William's new title reflects the work she has been doing for the past  10 years in helping to craft the city's annual budget, according to city officials.

The council is in a closed session to discuss compensation for Hafner and Williams. Ald.Jeff Krickhahn, who voted against the interim position,  objected to the council voting to create the new positions in a public session and then meeting behind closed doors to discuss compensation. 

The state's open meetings law entitles government bodies to discuss compensation for individuals, but not positions, in closed sessions.