By Kalin Krohe, Panhandle Post
The Alliance City Council held a special meeting on Feb. 23 to discuss the hiring of a new City Manager.
Council voted 4-1 to hire Jeff Hecksel of Oregon for the position.
Councilman John McGhehey made a motion to offer the position to Hecksel with a compensation package to include a salary of at least $125,000 plus benefits, but which could exceed $130,000 with an amendment. Mayor Mike Dafney and Finance Director Randy Waggener will negotiate the final package.
McGhehey said after the last meeting about a city manager he decided to make some phone calls.
"I think one of our concerns about Mr. Hecksel is he's got kind of a quiet personality," McGhehey said. "And didn't come off as real dynamite or outgoing. Mayor Dafney shared some comments that Chelsie Herian, our Box Butte Development Corporation Director, also said that he was pretty quiet in the tour. I called both of his personal references. They are not professional colleagues, but people that have known him for a long time. I also asked Mr. Hecksel for a couple of professional references. I talked to his County Board Chairman and also talked with the current Human Resource Director that has worked under Mr. Hecksel for the last four years. They all confirm that he does have a quiet personality. He's a thoughtful person, high integrity, but is a leader. The current County Board Chairman said that he would hate to lose him and considers him a personal friend. He has seen him talk a financial situation that he was not aware of when he first joined the Hood River County organization and turned it around in an efficient manner. The HR director came out of the private sector, had not worked in the public sector and said that Mr. Hecksel was very supportive of her, helping her find resources to develop her abilities in the public sector. She considers him passionate about his role...a relationship builder. I feel like he would be a good fit for our community."
Councilwoman Annora Bentley also agreed with McGhehey and said she feels Mr. Hecksel would be good for our community.
Vice Mayor Brian Mischnick said he couldn't get comfortable with him.
"I got about 80% there," said Mischnick. "I feel like we're making this decision a little bit out of fear and not enough applicants. That being said, I think there's a good chance Hecksel is going to have some success. I just can't quite get on board."
Currently Jeff Hecksel is the County Manager in Hood River County. Before that he was in city administration as a city manager.
"He has 37 years of experience," said Mayor Mike Dafney. "That's unheard of. The norm for city managers is six years so he's been one place eleven and another at six. His tenure is to be commended. He's doing something right."
Mayor Dafney felt that the council's decision was the right one, but they did have some controversy.
"Had some controversy that had come in on the other gentleman [James Thomas]," said Dafney. "I think some of it was unfair to him. He had a disgruntled citizen that was just after him and was going to make it as miserable as she could wherever he goes. It was just unfortunate, but when we looked at everything I think everyone is on board with Hecksel. The other gentleman was qualified though, he had 30 some years of experience."
Dafney said the search for a new city manager has taken six months. The city had over 20 applicants come in when the position was first posted.
"We got down to five and then narrowed down to three and just didn't make it work," said Dafney. "Went down the road aways and these two came in. At first we had just Mr. Hecksel and we lined him up. In the meantime, Thomas applied...so we thought we'll get them both in here at the same time and look them over. As you heard Brian [Mischnick] wanted to go down the road a little more and maybe see if we had more applicants come in, but it looks like council was satisfied with what we're going to get with Mr. Hecksel."