In a contract shake-up with Phil Hathcock dubbed by the Barton County Commission as “amicable,” Hathcock has stepped down as county administrator, a role he has held for over three years. But, he will continue as the solid waste director overseeing the landfill, a job he has held all along, and take on the duties as facilities director.
The change was the result of action taken Monday afternoon after three marathon executive sessions covering the evaluation of non-elected personnel forced the commission to recess the morning meeting at 11 a.m. The meeting resumed at noon and the item was added to the agenda.
“Due to the increased amount of work at the landfill, and due to the hard work and the dedication to his job functions, (the commission feels) that it would better serve the county if he would put all of his efforts to those two areas,” commission Chairman Jim Daily, District 4, said.
The change was effective Monday. In fact, after it was approved, Hathcock left his seat at the commission table and sat in the audience.
As for filling the administrative vacancy, “that has yet to be determined at this point,” Daily said. He did say it is the commission’s intention to fill the opening, although there is no timeline set.
Making a change
As to why the change was made, “in discussing this with Phil, the landfill takes up a tremendous amount of time,” Daily said. Although Hathcock has never held the title of director of facilities, he has always handled those functions.
The administrator was making around $100,000 or a little more. Between his two jobs, Hathcock will now make $100,000 ($85,000 for the landfill and $15,000 for facilities).
“So, it’s my understanding you’re going to look for another county administrator and spend in excess of $100,000 in taxpayer money,” Sheriff Brian Bellendir said.
“We didn’t say that,” District 1 Commissioner Kirby Krier said. “You’re making an assumption.”
The sheriff said he assumed they were going to pay the next administrator. Krier said that was another assumption.
“It seems like that’s a lot of money for something that has been working very well for several years,” Bellendir said. “I just wonder if this is the wisest decision we could make.”
The move is “not necessarily a demotion,” Daily said. “I think it is a change in desire for Phil. Phil is a very, very dedicated man. He has put in a lot of years in for the county. In my short time on the commission I think he’s done an outstanding job.”
But, “because of the atmosphere today, he has decided that it would be best for the county if he would step down” and put that dedication to the landfill and facilities, Daily said.
When asked if Hathcock had initiated the change, Daily said it “was an amicable agreement between the commission and Phil.”
What happens now?
In the interim, the duties would have fallen to the assistant administrator, in this case County Clerk Donna Zimmerman. However, when this came up Monday afternoon, she resigned from that position.
So, in this vacuum, the commission will handle the administrative duties, officials said.
“This is where this is going to cause problems for departments and elected officials,” Bellendir said. “One county commissioner can not make a decision, with current resolutions and statutes, without having a quorum present.”
Daily said they would defer to County Counselor Patrick Hoffman to make sure they are not in violations of county resolutions or the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
In the end, Krier moved to approve the change with District 3 Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson seconding it, and it passed 3-2. District 2 Commissioner Barb Esfeld joined with Krier and Hutchinson in voting for it, and Daily and District 5 Commissioner Jennifer Schartz were opposed.
Next, they added another item to the agenda – the appointment of an interim administrator.
“How are we going to direct the department heads and the elected officials in the day-to-day function of their jobs if they have a question or if they have an incident that occurs?” Daily said. “If there was something critical that needed to be done, it would take a meeting of at least three of us to make a decision in those situations, so we’d have to create a special meeting.”
He asked his fellow commissioners if they were willing to do that. They said they were.
Hutchinson was set to put forth a name of a possible interim candidate.
But, “I think we would have to further research that,” Esfeld said.
Daily agreed, noting it was wise not to do anything on the spur of the moment Monday “that we may end up finding out was a bad move.”
Wanting to avoid trouble
Hathcock took the job after the county operated for about two years without an administrator. Richard Boeckman resigned from the post in October 2016 and Hathcock was named operations director in May 2017 and promoted to administrator in April 2018.
Those who were on the commission at the time were asked how they handled things then. “Very poorly,” Schartz said.
For now, the commissioners all offered to work with department heads as needed, but that still didn’t appease the sheriff.
“There is nobody at the wheel, there is nobody at the helm,” Bellendir said. And, he reiterated the need for at least three commissioners to make decisions.
Hoffman informed him that departments could function legally for a week under this framework.
“I don’t want us to get into any trouble,” Esfeld said. “That’s not our intent and it’s not our job to do that.”
“I will just say that this is going to be a priority,” Daily said. So we will get on as rapidly as we possibly can, and try and get this taken care of. Because we do need to have someone steering the boat.”
“This has not been easy for any of us,” Esfeld said. “This has been the worst day that I’ve had in many years. We are hoping to make decisions for the best for the county. And we’ll leave it at that.”
