Council approves employment agreement with new city administrator

            The Clarion City Council meeting was a lively one last Tuesday, November 5. Over 60 citizens attended the meeting requiring many folding chairs to be set up in addition to a couple dozen people standing. The hot topic was the first agenda item: approving a city administrator/clerk employment agreement with Clint Middleton. Middleton is a Clarion resident and has previously worked for Threads, an online HR software company and Hagie Manufacturing.

            A big concern for various citizens was the timing of approving the employment agreement with Middleton. Three people who spoke, Greg Littlejohn, Shannon Walker, and Mike Ennis, all voiced that they felt the council was rushing the decision. Littlejohn said,

“I don’t know what the hurry is. It seems like you’re trying to ram this through. There is a lot of concern.” Walker said something similar while noting she appreciates much of what the council has done recently  

            Another point that citizens brought up was that the decision seemed questionable because it was taking place on Election Day. Ennis suggested the council table the agreement until further down the road to see how the election played out. Ennis voiced several other concerns with the Middleton decision as well, including his lack of experience in some of the areas required for the administrator job. He made the case the job search should be extended so more people from outside the area could be considered.

For the full story, see this week's Monitor