While it still is not official, Abilene Director of Finance Marcus Rothchild is expected to be the interim city manager, the Abilene City Commission agreed at a study session Monday.
The appointment is expected to be made official at Monday’s Feb. 8 city commission meeting.
He will be the sixth interim city manager since 2008, running the city government and it will be a second stint for Rothchild. He and City Clerk Penny Soukup were interim for a month in 2019.
City Manager Jane Foltz who served as an interim herself before being named officially to that position, is retiring at the end of February.
Foltz said she had contacted individuals in city management.
“I do have base rates for interim city manager,” she said which she said was a base rate of $40 per hour.
Foltz said that Rothchild said he was interested in the interim position with the hope that the city manager position is filled by June 1.
“We have great city staff,” said Commissioner Dee Marshall. “They have been working with a city manager that has involved them. They are fully capable of carrying it on. I feel like we should use what is right in front of us.”
Dual role
Commissioner Chris Ostermann asked about the dual role as interim city manager and finance director.
“That’s a lot of work: a city manager position and a staff position also,” she said.
Rothchild said this will be his third time working with an interim.
“We have hired interim managers which can be helpful with their knowledge. They always bring a plethora of knowledge that is helpful to the staff,” he said.
However, getting an interim up to speed and understanding where the city of Abilene is at and the internal workings of the city, the interim has moved on.
“In saving staff time, in my experience, it hasn’t worked that well,” he said. “Typically staff time goes significantly into training and getting the new interim city manager up to date.”
Rothchild said the budget process will be upcoming.
“I feel like this time of year will be a good time for the finance director to be able to sit in as the city manager,” he said. “Not because my job will be slow by any means. Actually the budget process, as we all know, is very busy.”
He said a large portion of the meetings in the next few months are going to be about the budget.
“I would be presenting a lot of material coming and gathering and putting together a lot of that data already,” he said. “I also know that we have an excellent staff across the board. We are experienced in all the departments and I feel very comfortable that they have the trust and knowledge that they can fill in the gaps.”
History
Marshall said in the past, hiring interims didn’t always work well.
“My viewpoint is that our employees have the knowledge and they have a great city attorney and bond council,” she said.
Foltz said she has a list of projects that are in the works.
“I have who the lead staff member is in those projects,” she said. “I’ve been doing some work preparing for my retirement. Whoever you choose to sit down and take this on, their plate is full.”
