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Kanner hired as interim manager in Phoenix Dave Kanner Tuesday Mar 21, 2017 at 4:55 PM Mar 21, 2017 at 4:55 PM By Tony Boom for the Tidings The Phoenix City Council hired former Ashland City Manager Dave Kanner as its interim city manager Tuesday at a meeting in which several citizens sounded off about their unhappiness with the March 8 firing of City Manager Jamie McLeod and the way business is conducted in the city. During the public comment period of Tuesday's council meeting, eight speakers were critical of city practices in hiring, conducting business and holding meetings. Kanner will be the fourth manager in 10 months. About 50 people filled the meeting space in the Public Works Office. “Constant change in the position makes everybody feel insecure. Vision doesn’t take hold, and how can we develop long-term plans?” said Annie Drager. “When (the city) makes mistakes and they keep happening, we wonder why. Mistrust is the biggest issue we have to deal with.” Problems in the city manager position didn’t begin with McLeod, said Pastor Mike Foster of First Presbyterian Church, noting the firing of Steve Dahl in May 2016. Hiring processes have been questionable, he said. “We have yet again another hand-picked interim put forward as the only option we have,” said Foster, referring to a special meeting held March 13 at which Mayor Chris Luz brought Kanner in as an interim candidate before a hiring process was discussed or the position advertised. Citing "a desire for new administrative leadership," the Ashland City Council voted 4-2 in November to fire Kanner, who had been in the position for 4½ years. He previously worked as the county administrator in Deschutes County and as assistant county administrator in Jackson County. Kanner's termination agreement with Ashland provided him $118,467.40 in severance pay, buying out the remainder of his five-year contract, of which nine months remained at the time. Kanner will serve for six months in Phoenix and will not be a candidate for the permanent position. Former Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown also applied for the position. Brown had extensive management experience in the U.S. Navy Reserve, where she was a rear admiral until retiring in October. Brown was traveling and attempts to arrange a phone interview during the meeting did not work out. According to the city, Brown did not meet city manager experience criteria for the position. Prior to public comments Tuesday, Luz spoke for 20 minutes to explain why McLeod was terminated and to detail both the firing and hiring process and timelines. Luz called for whoever was named interim manager to investigate and report within 45 days on allegations made by McLeod, including a serious lack of checks and balances, unaddressed human resource issues, potential violations of state ethics and open meeting laws, and inaccurate communication. Kanner said he’s cautious about assuming community sentiment matches those of the people who showed up at the meeting. The mayor and council have given him the sense that they are committed to the need to observe public meeting laws and to doing the public’s business in the open, he said. “There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s like eating an elephant, it's one bite at a time,” said Kanner. “The No. 1 priority needs to be getting the budget done. We are pushing against statutory deadlines. The No. 2 priority is getting a search started for a permanent city manager. If we do this right ... it will take six months.” In other business, Mike Shunk was selected to fill a vacant seat on the council created when Luz became mayor. The term will run through December 2018. — Tony Boom is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at tboomwriter@gmail. com.