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ELKINS – Elkins City Council has approved changing the title of the city operations manager position to director of operations, as well as eventually posting the vacant position, while also appointing an interim director.
During the most recent council meeting, the nine present council members voted in favor of Resolution 1962, which appointed Operations Assistant Melody Himes as interim director of operations, following the departure of the Operations Manager Michael Kesecker. Third Ward Council member Christopher Lowther was absent from the meeting.
During the City Personnel Committee’s meeting on Oct. 5, it was announced that Kesecker had submitted his resignation. The matter had been listed on the committee’s agenda for Oct. 5, and Fifth Ward Elkins City Council member Cody Thompson, who leads the Personnel Committee, stated that the agenda item was brought forth by Human Resource Generalist Sarah Campbell.
Campbell confirmed Kesecker’s resignation with the committee and stated that his last day would be on Oct. 9. Kesecker, who was present for most of the Oct. 5 meeting, also confirmed this, stating he turned in his resignation to Campbell and City Attorney Geraldine Roberts.
No reason was given during the meeting for Kesecker’s decision to resign, and no word was spoken about whether he is going to another position elsewhere. The Inter-Mountain reached out to Kesecker for comment on his resignation, but still had not heard back as of press time. Kesecker joined the City of Elkins as Operations Manager in 2023.
According to Resolution 1962, the Personnel Committee recommended Himes be appointed as Interim Director of Operations effective Oct. 10, “pending recruitment and selection of a permanent Director of Operations.” The resolution establishes compensation for the interim appointment at “an hourly rate equivalent to the annual salary previously authorized for the position.” Himes will also have oversight of City operations during recruitment and selection of a permanent Director of Operations.
Before the council voted on the resolution, Thompson thanked Himes “tremendously” for stepping into the position of interim director of operations.
“It’s something that I feel, Operations is highly important to the city, and without someone of your knowledge, and I know you stepped into this role before,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to say I’m really appreciative of you stepping into that role. I feel like you’ll do an excellent job in this position as the interim. I think we’re in good hands with you and I appreciate you for stepping up for that.”
Himes noted that she has been the interim Operations Manager three times now.
Earlier in the meeting, the nine present council members also voted in favor of Resolution 1959, which approved “the Operations Manager title change, job description, vacancy announcement and advertised compensation range.”
According to Resolution 1959, the position designated as Operations Manager will be renamed Director of Operations. The resolution states the Council finds that title “more accurately reflects the positions responsibilities and role in overseeing municipal operations and departmental functions.” Resolution 1959 also approves the official job description attached to the position and approves the annual salary range for the position be advertised at $72,000 to $76,000.
Before the Council voted on the resolution, Fifth Ward Council member Burley Woods asked his fellow council members and Campbell if they could review the phrasing in the job description under “Work Context.” Woods specified a section that stated the Director of Operations “occasionally lifts up to 100 pounds; seldom more than 100 pounds; the employee frequently lifts up to 50 pounds; and regularly lifts up to 25 pounds.”
Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco and Thompson both noted there did appear to be some wording in the job description that seemed “uncomfortable.” Campbell said she did not change anything in the description from the previous hiring process beyond what was mentioned during a recent Personnel Committee meeting, but she was happy to go back and double check the requirements based on the current standards for such jobs.
Thompson jokingly questioned if they will be measuring how much an applicant can lift when they do interviews. Campbell stated the weight requirements could be changed before the job was posted as it was more of an office position now. Thompson said he felt the weight requirement needed to be “really reworked.”
Thompson also took issue with the wording regarding the Director of Operation’s vision. The job description states “Specific vision abilities required by this job include Close vision; Distance vision; Peripheral vision; Depth perception; Ability to adjust focus.”
“We cannot tell somebody they have to… I mean, a person could be blind, they could take this [job],” Thompson said. “We can’t tell them they can’t have this [job], so there definitely needs to be review.”
Campbell said she had already removed similar wording from other City of Elkins job descriptions.
Fourth Ward Council member Andrew Carroll moved for an amendment to Resolution 1959 for the city to post the job after Campbell and Himes reviewed and changed the Director of Operations job description. All nine Council members approved the amendment before approving the resolution as a whole.
Elkins City Council will meet at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.