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Council debates hiring shared business administrator or project manager to handle HR and projects
Summary
Council members discussed creating a business-administrator or shared project-manager role (potentially shared with Frenchtown) to oversee HR and capital projects; members stressed the need for a new ordinance that limits unilateral power and defines responsibilities and shared-service governance.
Council members returned to an extended discussion about whether to create a business-administrator position or a shared-service project-manager role to help manage growing administrative, HR and capital-project workloads.
The mayor said the city is complex enough to merit additional help in City Hall and described ongoing conversations with neighboring Frenchtown about a shared-service arrangement in which a business administrator might work three days a week in Lambertville and two days in Frenchtown. Council members emphasized that any new position should have a clearly defined scope and checks and balances. One councilmember urged tearing up the old ordinance and drafting a new one that limits unilateral power and clarifies oversight, hiring process and reporting relationships.
Council members repeatedly flagged HR as a priority responsibility for the new role and suggested alternative titles such as "project manager" to reflect a broader set of duties and to avoid the political baggage of prior business-administrator arrangements. The council asked the city attorney and staff to draft an outline for a revised ordinance and to explore shared-service mechanics with Frenchtown.
Ending: The council instructed staff and legal counsel to prepare options and a draft ordinance for future consideration and to continue outreach with Frenchtown on shared-service logistics.
