The front entrance to both Traer City Hall and Traer Municipal Utilities (TMU) pictured on Wednesday, June 25. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TRAER – Following a pair of abrupt resignations from the Traer Municipal Utilities (TMU) Board last month – and the hiring of a third board member as the new general manager – Mayor Pete Holden initiated the removal of the remaining two trustees during the July 7 regular meeting of the city council.

“So there’s a process,” city attorney Brent Lechtenberg told the council Monday evening in regard to the possible removal of TMU Chairman Nick Podhajsky and Trustee Dave Barnes. “[T]hat process starts with the mayor, and then the Iowa Code spells out what has to happen. So we give notice to the affected board members. They have an opportunity to request a hearing within 30 days – or have it beyond 30 days – and then at the conclusion of that, it goes to [Traer City Council] for a public hearing and requires unanimous agreement amongst the council members to remove.”

Earlier this spring, former TMU General Manager Pat Stief announced his plans to retire effective July 1. At the time of his announcement, the then-five-member TMU board – composed of Podhajsky, Barnes, Anita Dostal, Eric McEwen, and Sara O’Brien – began the search process by forming a hiring committee. Close to 25 applications for the GM position were received including one from McEwen himself. On June 5, McEwen was subsequently chosen by his fellow trustees for the position.

A special meeting took place on June 11 to set McEwen’s wages and benefits package. After requesting an annual salary of $130,000 – in order to stay comparable to the salary he was earning as a production supervisor at Corteva in Dysart, he said – the board eventually settled on $127,500 combined with a review and 3% increase after six months, resulting in a roughly 27.5% increase in salary over Stief’s current wage. The following Monday, O’Brien submitted her resignation as a TMU trustee with Dostal following suit two days later. Both cited mistreatment by fellow trustees in their resignation letters.

“Being on the TMU board was a privilege. I enjoyed being a part of the community. I treated my fellow board members with respect, and I expected the same in return,” O’Brien said in a written statement to the newsaper regarding her decision to resign. “Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions Anita (Dostal) and I brought to the table were viewed as irrelevant and were met with sarcasm and eye rolling. This is unacceptable behavior for any person serving on a board. Traer is a wonderful community and deserves only the best citizens leading it.”

On June 19, McEwen tendered his resignation as a trustee.

During the Traer City Council meeting Monday evening, both McEwen’s wage and the resignations from the TMU Board were discussed at length by council members with Councilor Jamie Erhardt stating the hiring process “didn’t smell very good.”

“From what I’ve heard, from multiple people, I think there needed to be some transparency in the hiring. This is a city-owned utility. This is a people of Traer’s utility,” he said, in part. “I think there were some problems in that hiring process that maybe should have been a little more transparent, maybe with [the assistance of] Council as we’re elected voices of the citizens of Traer. I think maybe that should have probably had a little bit to say with it. That’s not how it’s set up right now. That may change in the future.”

As part of his brief comments, Mayor Holden characterized the new GM’s salary as “wrong” and “inappropriate” in light of McEwen’s qualifications when compared to Stief’s. The conversation then turned back to the two female trustees who had resigned and the five applications that had been received for the board vacancies – all from male applicants including one from Stief.

“None of these applications are women because they were so disrespected and it’s going to be difficult to get women on that board with the disrespect that still sits on that board,” Councilor Trish Kennedy said.

“It wasn’t just this one vote,” Mayor Holden said later in the meeting. “It was an ongoing disrespect of the board members and poorly treated. Just incredibly disappointed with behavior. People expected more professional behavior from [Podhajsky and Barnes]. My feeling is removal of those two people.”

As part of her comments, Mayor Pro Tem Carri Holst said the makeup of the future TMU Board needed to be more “reflective” of the community.

“I would like to see a little more diverse board there also,” Erhardt later added before stating he hoped the City had not “burned that bridge” in terms of recruiting female applicants.

In regard to no longer having a quorum for the TMU Board, Lechtenberg told the council only “routine matters” including payroll and paying routine bills could continue in the board’s absence.

In terms of removing Podhajsky and Barnes, Lechtenberg said trustees could only be removed “for certain actions.”

“What I think would be the most likely [action], I guess, (from) what I’ve heard so far, is willful misconduct or maladministration in office,” he explained early in the meeting.

While a motion to begin the removal process was unnecessary, Lechtenberg asked Mayor Holden to make a declaration regarding the removal for dexterity, which the mayor promptly did, naming both Podhajsky and Barnes.

Discussion then briefly turned back to McEwen’s salary.

“We’ve got some [of the lowest] paid utility guys in the state and we’ve got the highest paid manager right now. I mean, from my research,” Erhardt said, in part. “I’m not saying Mr. McEwen is wrong at all. He probably is the right guy. … I think maybe some due diligence on the pay could have gone a long way. … We walked into a hornet’s nest because of what we’re paying him.”

” appreciate your comment about the lack of investigation into what the wages should have been,” Stief, who was seated in the front row of the gallery, said in response to Erhardt. “I don’t think a lot of homework was done on that level. I think somebody formed an opinion and that opinion became fact. I can’t prove that.”

“That’s where I think maybe council members ought to be part of that hiring deal going forward,” Erhardt continued. “There should be some oversight with that when we’re spending City money.”

The next Traer City Council meeting is set for Monday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m. at Traer Municipal Hall. As of press time, Podhajsky and Barnes remained as the only TMU Board trustees; a formal letter of removal was mailed to both late last week. According to Traer City Hall, a public hearing on the matter will be part of the Aug. 4 agenda, if needed. Applications continue to be accepted for the TMU Board. Those interested in serving as a trustee are asked to contact the Traer City Clerk’s office at 319-478-2580 or tmuclerk@traer.net.