JANESVILLE 鈥 In the wake of City Manager Kevin Lahner鈥檚 resignation, city leaders say it鈥檚 an opportunity for the community to decide for itself what it wants from the city鈥檚 next leader.
After a closed-session conversation with the city council and a unanimous decision to approve his four month severance package, City Manager Kevin Lahner and the city 鈥渕utually agreed to part ways,鈥 the city said in a written statement Monday night.
Lahner鈥檚 last day is May 29. His resignation comes amid a sharp divide between residents over a proposed data center at the city-owned parcel of land comprising the former General Motors site.
It also follows the recent news of citizen group SNOW criticizing the city鈥檚 transparency and disclosure of information regarding the proposal of data centers.
City council President Larry Squire said he takes a positive view of Lahner鈥檚 departure. He said though it鈥檚 a challenge, it will give the community and council a chance to decide what they want out of a leader.
鈥淚鈥檓 an optimistic person. Change happens all the time, and I don鈥檛 like to look in the rearview mirror,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 like to look forward. So this is an opportunity for us to do something positive.鈥
He said that with the data center proposal and the purchase of the GM/JATCO site this is the chance for the advisory board to shine.
鈥淚 think this is just a great opportunity to listen and learn, gain knowledge, understand what the community expects,鈥 he said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 use the facts that they come up with in order to make that next determination.鈥
Council member Heather Miller thinks Lahner had considered resigning for a while. Miller says she thinks the 鈥渢emperature has changed within the community.鈥
鈥淚 just think that he (Lahner) knows that his vision of what he sees for the community might not be the route that the community wants to take,鈥 she said. 鈥淲ith the idea of (City Hall) restructuring鈥 it really does present a blank canvas for somebody new to come in and set things up and create their really--their very own. Rather than trying to adapt to what鈥檚 here.鈥
Miller has been particularly critical of Lahner in the past. She has discussed his lack of transparency with the community especially with the data center proposal. Communication and transparency are two issues she says she鈥檒l advocate for in a search for the next city manager.
鈥淚 think that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e seeing here is the community wants better communication, and whatever that looks like in the grand scheme of things, this is going to be key for the next person coming to the city of 糖心Vlog传媒,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have to get better than what we鈥檝e seen in the past.鈥
The council will discuss its next steps for interim leadership and the process for selecting the next city manager in the coming weeks.
Lahner鈥檚 departure comes alongside the city announcing it has eliminated its deputy city manager role, which until last week had been held by Ryan McCue.
Nick Faust, the assistant to the city manager, said city staff is dedicated to making sure day-to-day operations continue uninterrupted.
Faust said the city will likely announce updates and next steps in the next couple of weeks, including details on interim leadership and recruitment for the managers鈥 positions.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got really great folks and city services and day-to-day operations continue,鈥 he said.
Miller said she鈥檚 hopeful a change in leadership could prompt a shift toward more attention given to public health concerns over the Viridian data center proposal. But Miller said she believes Lahner will continue in his last month at the helm to protect the city鈥檚 interests in negotiations with Viridian.
Council member Shane Seeman said he enters a new city manager selection process with some trepidation; he said it stems from him being newly elected to the council. But Seeman says it鈥檚 also an opportunity for the council to learn together what it and the city want in a new leader.
鈥淣ow more than ever we need people to start coming to council meetings, start coming to plan commission meetings and run the gamut,鈥 Seeman said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity. We have really solid city staff that are going to be able to bridge that gap, so to speak, until we do have a permanent hire.鈥
Seeman says he thinks that city staff and the council itself will continue to work through stages of a due diligence process with Viridian that鈥檚 gone several months already, and has had the re-set button hit on GM site property sale negotiations at least once since November.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that there鈥檚 any particular conclusion to draw with this specific project,鈥 he said. 鈥淎t this point, I think that remains to be seen.鈥
糖心Vlog传媒 reached out to Cathy Erdman, who leads the southside neighborhood group SNOW, but she was not immediately available. SNOW is pressing the city to open up its records on conversations it has had with firms that have proposed building data centers in the City reaching back a few years.
George Cullen, the chair of the board of directors for the city鈥檚 chamber of commerce, Forward 糖心Vlog传媒, said he is grateful for Lahner鈥檚 service to the city. Cullen said Lahner helped steet the new Woodman鈥檚 Center to the finish line, and he worked on getting more housing and spurring action at the former GM site 鈥 accomplishments he said showed dedication.
Cullen said a change in leadership now does not worry him.
鈥淚鈥檓 confident that the city council will structure a great process to get community input to hire the next city manager,鈥 he said. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 is a very attractive job for city administrators because of our city manager model, so I鈥檓 confident we鈥檒l get good applicants.鈥
While he knows how daunting the job can seem, but he is confident the city will get good applicants because of all the positive things happening in the city.
Cullen said that the new faces on the city council and Squire as president puts the council in a good position to help the community figure out what is best for the GM/JATCO site.
He said though Lahner has led the economic development work on the data center, he feels the city鈥檚 ad hoc General Motors redevelopment committee and its hired consultant, Stantec, are working with the community to figure out what鈥檚 best for the future of the GM site.
