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Council rejects challenge to city manager library appointment, then confirms committee nominations
Summary
The Janesville Common Council debated city manager appointments after a citizen-led advisory committee's recommendation was not followed for a library board seat. A motion to deny the single appointment failed 4–3; the council then approved the manager’s full slate of committee nominations unanimously.
The Janesville Common Council on April 28 considered objections to a city manager appointment to the Library Board of Trustees and ultimately confirmed the manager’s slate of citizen committee nominations.
Councilmember Michael Miller moved to deny the city manager’s library-board appointment; Councilmember Williams seconded. The motion to deny failed 4–3. Council president John Burdick, Vice President Squire, Councilmember Nino and Councilmember Cass voted no. Following that vote, Councilmember Cass moved to approve the manager’s recommendations for the committees; the motion carried unanimously.
The contested appointment came after the city’s Advisory Committee on Appointments (ACA) had made a unanimous recommendation that the city manager did not adopt for this one seat. Cassandra Pope, a Janesville resident who spoke during public comment, said the ACA’s recommendations were being “disregarded” and urged the council to appoint the committee’s nominee to preserve citizen-led oversight and diversity on the library board. Pope said two years in a row the manager had declined ACA-recommended candidates for the same board.
City Manager Kevin Lehner told the council the ACA is a recommending body and that appointments are discretionary for the city manager and the council president under the municipal library ordinance; he said he reviewed applications, spoke with board liaisons and considered multiple factors before making appointments. Lehner cautioned that a mandatory requirement to follow ACA recommendations would be inconsistent with his discretion under city policy.
Councilmembers debating the motion cited competing priorities: some said the ACA’s volunteer vetting process deserved deference to build public trust, while others said the manager’s discretionary authority should be respected. Councilmember Erdman emphasized the role of the ACA in fostering public confidence; other council members defended the manager’s discretion and noted the alternate appointee was a qualified candidate.
After the denial motion failed, the council voted to approve the slate of citizen committee appointments (item H on the consent agenda). The record shows the final confirmation vote on the nominations passed unanimously.
The council did not substitute a nominee at the meeting; city staff advised that the council lacks statutory authority to directly appoint a substitute name in place of the manager’s appointment under the municipal ordinance that delegates appointment authority to the city manager.
The matter was handled as part of the consent agenda; no further hearings or formal appeals were announced at the meeting.
