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Commission authorizes negotiations for interim city manager after Doug Terry interview
Summary
After interviewing Doug Terry, the Sturgis City Commission authorized staff and the city attorney to negotiate a mutually agreed interim management agreement and to conduct background and reference checks; commissioners expressed interest in overlap with the departing manager and set parameters on hours and reimbursement for travel.
Doug Terry, an applicant for Sturgis’s interim city manager post, told the City Commission he would bring years of small-city management experience and a hands-on leadership style during a public interview that lasted more than an hour.
Terry, who described himself to the commission as a longtime municipal manager who "likes utilities" and who said he prefers being called "Doc," answered commissioners' questions about crisis leadership, staff training, grant work and how he would work with department heads. He said his role would be to support existing department heads, stabilize staff, and assist the commission with recruiting a permanent manager.
"My job obviously is assisting them…How can I help you?" Terry said, describing an "open door" style and a priority on staff training and calm leadership.
Commissioners discussed contract format, minimum hours on site, mileage or housing when weather prevents commuting, and whether the engagement should be an independent-contractor arrangement or an employee appointment. Commissioners also expressed a desire for any interim manager to overlap with the outgoing manager’s final weeks so knowledge transfer can occur; the current manager’s departure is anticipated July 24.
The commission voted to authorize the city manager, city attorney and clerk to negotiate a mutually agreed interim management agreement with Terry, contingent on satisfactory reference and background checks. The motion carried after recorded opposition from one or more commissioners.
What's next: City staff will negotiate terms, including start date, minimum on-site hours and reimbursement for travel, and return a proposed agreement for commission review; the commission directed negotiations to be handled through city staff, not by individual commissioners.
Provenance: Commission interview and discussion appear throughout the meeting transcript starting with the presentation/interview segment and the subsequent hiring discussion (interview segments and hiring-discussion segments).
