City council missed opportunity in not taking apps

Having not held the required public hearing to sell bonds to fund the proposed new police station attached to the fire station and, in the eyes of some, ignoring the comments of the people who opposed the issuance of bonds once a public hearing was held, the New Prague City Council has arguably given people the idea it is going to do what it wants.

Regardless of the opposition from a small number of people.

So, just maybe, opening up the process to applicants interested in replacing Duane Jirik, who resigned last month, might have given the community the message the city council is listening. Unfortunately, it chose not to do that.

Instead, the council selected former mayor Chuck Nickolay to lead the council through the next 18 months to the completion of the term Jirik won in 2022. With no public discussion on how to proceed or possible candidates before the June 2 meeting, the city council selected Nickolay at its Monday, June 2 meeting.

On one hand, selecting Nickolay makes sense. He is a proven leader who sits on the utilities commission. He served the community well during his years as the leader of the city council. He led the council during the construction of the new fire station and started the Main Street project. He knows how to run a meeting and understands the big picture of how a city operates. In July of 2020, Nickolay announced he would not be seeking re-election in 2020. He said in a press release at the time, “While it has been an honor to serve my hometown for the past 10 years, it is also time to step down and let new leadership emerge for our city. “When I decided to run for mayor, I told my family that, if elected, I would commit to 10 years,” he said adding those 10 years have gone by.

But on the other hand, the city council missed the opportunity to show the community it cares about citizen input, not just say it is listening and then appointing someone with no apparent consideration of such a process other than appointing someone who isn’t a city hall-insider.

Because there is less than 24 months remaining before the mayor’s seat is open to election, the city council had the option to appoint. The council had the option to proceed as it saw fit. The city could have opened the appointment up to applicants, just as the school board did when it faced unexpected openings the past few years. The city could have given citizens residing in New Prague a week to contemplate applying for the post and then set a deadline to apply. The council could have held a meeting to interview a selected number of candidates and then make a decision. The entire process could have been completed by the end of June.

By creating an application process, the council would have shown people it was open to people who have concerns about the construction of a proposed police station. City Administrator Josh Tetzlaff said the city charter allows the council the discretion to appoint whoever it wanted. Instead, the decision was made to appointment Mr. Nickolay to replace Duane Jirik as New Prague’s mayor in just a few minutes, including explanations of the resolutions from the city administrator and city attorney, according to the timer on the video replay of the council meeting.

But the council went ahead and offered the position to Mr. Nickolay based on its belief he will do a good job as mayor. He was not publicly asked his position on the new police station or any other issue impacting the city. Councilors apparently did so based on their belief he did a good job as mayor for a decade between 2010 and 2020 and will do so again.

Apparently, the city council was in a big hurry to get this issue settled and a person councilors would accept into the mayor’s chair. They weren’t willing to take the time for an application process. But why? Why the rush?

Councilor Maggie Bass said the she was unaware of who the person the council might appoint may be since the council had not discussed the idea. After about 13 minutes of explanation on the appointment process and the council’s options, Mr. Nickolay was approved to serve the remainder of Mr. Jirik’s term. There was no discussion on whether Mr. Nickolay is the best candidate compared to anyone else.

Councilor Shawn Ryan supported an application process if Councilor Bruce Wolf, the council’s vice president, declined the mayoral post. The council had the option of an application process but declined it.