By KEVIN NEVERS

The Chesterton Town Council has taken another lurching step in the direction of hiring a town manager.

At its meeting Monday night, members voted 5-0 to use the services—at no charge—of the Indiana Small Business Development Center (ISBDC), which will assist the town in establishing the selection criteria for the position.

Among other things, the ISBDC will determine competencies which the successful candidate should possess, craft a selection process and candidate sourcing, conduct interviewer skills training, and help put the candidates through the process.

What the council did not do on Monday—after some discussion—is authorize Clerk-Treasurer Gayle Polakowski to begin advertising for the position.

A motion, made by Member Jeff Trout, R-2nd, was in fact on the table, when Member Dave Cincoski, R-3rd, asked two simple questions: how much are we going to pay the town manager, and from what source or sources are we going to find the funds?

“There will be no raises for employees next year,” Cincoski noted. “We don’t even have a budget yet. I’m not against a town manager at all. In fact I’m wholeheartedly on the record for it. But we haven’t had the discussion of how we’re going to pay for it.”

By consensus members agreed to peg the salary at a range of $50,000 to $80,000, around $45,000 of which was made available when Town Economic Development Coordinator Dwayne Williams resigned earlier this year. But the source of the remaining funds remains unclear.

Cincoski agreed to work with Polakowski on the issue of funding the position.

Posted 8/26/2008