Unexpected resignations rattle City of Polson
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POLSON – A series of employees in leadership positions have left vacancies in the City of Polson’s staff.
On Oct. 22, the commission held a special meeting to renew city manager Mark Shrives’ contract, offering him only a one-year employment agreement. The following day Shrives declined to sign the agreement, which expired Oct. 29.
At the Oct. 22 meeting, community members and commissioners criticized Shrives’ performance.
“I just don’t feel that overall the city is being represented in a fair and welcoming way and I think it is time for change,” Commissioner Stephen Turner said.
Several members of the public approached the commission with complaints about Shrives, citing difficulty working with him on business and city maintenance matters.
An Aug. 22 performance review did not indicate the dissatisfaction that commissioners and community members voiced over Shrives’ performance at his contract renewal meeting.
The review praised Shrives for his work on the city’s wastewater treatment plant and strategic plan. The review also credited Shrives with hiring and supporting a strong city staff.
“Mark continues to be an important link between the commission and citizens and staff,” the review read.
Commissioners Bob Martin and Turner said they had expressed concern over Shrives’ performance that was not reflected in the performance review.
The end of Shrives’ tenure as city manager was not without contention. In the meetings leading up to his departure, city staff had differences of opinion with the commission regarding the application for an extension on the Ridgewater Development master plan.
At the Oct. 1 commission meeting, Shrives recommended that land-use attorney Susan Swimley review revised conditions of approval for the subdivision prior to the decision on the extension. Ridgewater developer Mike Maddy expressed concern that Swimley was “anti-subdivision.” Rather than having an attorney review the revised conditions in early October, developers decided to adhere to the original conditions.
In 2017, Swimley reviewed an application for extension of the development plan. The attorney advised the city to deny the extension request because of public safety concerns related to proper entrances to the subdivision, unresolved water and sewer arrangements and noncompliance with development codes. Contrary to the recommendation, the commission granted that extension.
At the Oct. 15 meeting, city staff did not provide a recommendation on whether the commission should grant the extension or not. However, city planner Kyle Roberts provided two reasons why the extension did not comply with the Polson Development Code. The city passed the extension with the caveat that a new entrance to the development is built before a traffic counter records 7,500 trips on the existing road per day. Roberts repeatedly told the commission that 7,500 trips per day would be more than could be safely supported by the existing infrastructure.
In addition, Shrives recently announced that former city planner Joyce Weaver was suing him and the City of Polson for wrongful discharge.
Severance pay for Shrives was removed from the Nov. 7 commission meeting agenda because the city planned to seek legal advice on the topic.
Shrives’ departure had a ripple effect. City engineer Shari Johnson and city attorney Rich Gebhardt resigned within the week of Shrives’ decision not to renew his contract. Johnson resigned on Oct. 26, four days after Shrives declined to renew his contract. Johnson said that her resignation was a response to Shrives’ decision to leave his position.
“I felt to keep my professional integrity I needed to have a strong city manager and a strong attorney and without those to support my position I needed to resign,” Johnson said. She worked for the City of Polson for nearly 10 years.
Gebhardt declined to comment.
Police Chief Wade Nash said that the city has been a “whirlwind” since the resignations of the city manager, engineer and attorney.
The commission unofficially designated Nash interim city manager at their Nov. 7 meeting.
