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Clawson DDA discusses formalizing city liaison as director but takes no final vote
Summary
The Clawson DDA considered a resolution to formalize city administration as the DDA director and to use an existing $30,000 budget line for that role; members agreed staff should draft a hiring policy and job description and that any appointment will require city council approval under state law. No final board vote on a permanent director was recorded.
The Clawson Downtown Development Authority spent a substantial portion of its meeting considering a resolution that would formalize the current arrangement in which city administration serves as the DDA director.
Administration presented a draft resolution that would allow the city to serve in the director role on an ongoing basis and include an annual review of the arrangement. "The administration is recommending to formalize the existing arrangement, allowing city administration to serve as the DDA director on a permanent basis," Speaker 2 said during the presentation. The item also referenced a $30,000 budgeted line for the director's salary that staff proposed moving into the general fund and using to cover part-time or shared director services.
Board members raised questions about continuity, oversight and legal requirements. Speaker 1 said the board wanted a role in selection and oversight: "I don't want it to be a musical chair director... I want the board to have approval of it as well as yourself and then city council." Several participants noted state law requires city council approval of the DDA director; Speaker 2 referenced a 2018 change that obliges council approval.
Rather than taking a final vote on creating a permanent director position, the board directed staff to draft a clear hiring process and job description that would be consistent with city HR procedures and then return that proposal for board review and city council approval as required by law. Speaker 2 summarized the next step: work together to post a job, develop a hiring committee and create a legally sound path where a recommended candidate comes back to the board and then to city council.
The discussion also identified possible alternatives, including a dual-role or part-time arrangement and using existing budget reserve to fund a full-time director if the board later chose that path. The meeting record does not show a final vote to adopt the draft resolution during this session; the board agreed to revisit the item once the hiring policy and job description are prepared.
