So what was the rush in bouncing Wollangk?
The Northwestern is reporting today that Mayor Frank Tower now wants to cancel the search for an interim city manager.
What was the Council thinking when it rushed to have City Manager Richard Wollangk pushed out of office? Did it really think it would be that easy to replace him?
Or did it think that the city had cash rattling around in its bank account that couldn't be used for any better purpose than a fat severance package?
What was the Council thinking when it rushed to have City Manager Richard Wollangk pushed out of office? Did it really think it would be that easy to replace him?
Or did it think that the city had cash rattling around in its bank account that couldn't be used for any better purpose than a fat severance package?
posted by Miles Maguire at 7:35 AM
29 Comments:
Miles,
Don't you remember? He retired, he wasn't pushed out.
We all know he was forced out by a council that had no idea what end was up or how to proceed next. The entire situation has been an embarrassment...and continues to be.
What is it about politicians and the inability to make decisions?
First we have a BOE and recently the representatives in Madison over a budget
and now our own city council.
If you didn’t want an interim manager serving the city…
Why the rush to usher Mr. Wollangk out the door. He could have served the city
all the way through this process.
Why spend the money on advertising an interim position?
Why start the selection process?
Why announce the final candidates and than decide its not the right course of action?
These decisions are ripping this city apart and you as our elected council need to
mend it. ASAP.
Council members PLEASE Finish the process you have started it. Honor the applicants and the application process you as a council initiated. Don’t jump ship in the middle of Lake Winnebago. This ship needs a captain! We can’t drift on the tides of political unrest and questionable leadership. We have some serious vacancies at 215 Church Street. A temporary captain is better than no captain for a year. If it takes a year to find Mr. Wollangks’ replacement your hiring process is seriously flawed.
We are looking for a qualified leader for our city not a Savior to solve all its problems.
You have selected 5 candidates to interview. These candidates realize the position is temporary; but perhaps there is just one that could serve as interim and be able to prove to be qualified to serve as our permanent leader. There would absolutely nothing wrong with an interim getting a promotion. There is nothing better to inspire a good performance than a reward or promotion.
In this process you will have saved the city taxpayer dollars by avoiding a second search.
No offense intended but…. Right now is council appears more like indecisive teenagers rather than educated professionals.
One of the initial interview questions should be: Can you or are you willing/able to serve the city as a permanent city manager?
I, for one, am personally enjoying having a city manager who doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. (Granted, Fitzpatrick is a great guy and probably the best department head for the job right now). It makes for very entertaining council meetings where nothing gets done.
Today's vote shows that our elected councilers could care less about getting citizen input.
Why else the need for a "quickly" meeting on a Friday morning?
Why not wait 4 days for a regular meeting?
This council has no consideration for Mr Fitzpatrick and the responsibilities thrown his way.
They voted to wait until after January 17th and possibly until after April 1 to START the search
for a new city manager.
By their own calculations of a year the city of Oshkosh will be a no permanent city manager until January of 2009 to April 2009.
This council is a TOTAL shipwreck a disaster.
No pun intended to the River-Mill folks but the city can approve sidewalks and faster and get them installed faster than they replace Mr Wollangk.
"this decision smells".
WHY is leaving this crucial vacancy for so long considered good for the community?
What political game is being played here?
Yes, but sidewalks are really important where they are not needed. Having a city manager that is needed is apparently not high on this councils "to do" list.
So the city's insurance company will pay Paul Esslinger's legal bill, eh? If that don't beat all. Well the taxpayers can still have the last laugh on Esslinger by voting his sorry behind out of office next April. Meanwhile, we should not expect to hear another single word from the Esslinger crew about insurance premiums the city pays. That would be the proverbial pot calling the kettle black.
The insurance carrier that will pay the bill is not the same as the health insurance fund that the employees receive benefits from.
Nice thought but you can't throw it on Esslinger after all.
I'm with 1:18 on this one. Insurance premiums are insurance premiums and it doesn't matter what company covers what. Premiums are based on claims and Paul Esslinger ought to be ashamed of himself for expecting the taxpayers to fund the battles he chose. Especially when he talks about holding costs down. The only costs he wants to hold down are those that don't affect him. If something does affect him, he won't forgo it. But once a bully always a bully, I suppose. Maybe if we had Sen. Roessler's anti-bullying bill when Esslinger was a child he wouldn't have been able to bully kids at school and we wouldn't be saddled with this pandering hypocrite pushing people around and masquerading as someone who gives a damn today. Your bill's about 30 some years too late Senator.
Bill-O is a real jerk. Just shows how the "Shadow Government" works in Oshkosh. Thank God we got Pauly looking out for us. He even got the EAA to anti-up bucks for waste treatment. Way to go Paul!
Shadow government?!?!?! Wow, 12:20PM, ease up on the conspiracy theories. Exactly how does filing a complaint in the open and which is subject to open records request equate to being part of the shadow government? You're making more of this than there is. Then again, that's what conspiracy theorists do. Well done.
Thill leaves Oshkosh and moves to Neenah.
Company moves into Neenah Kimberly-Clark plant from Oshkosh
By Maureen Wallenfang
Post-Crescent staff writer
Q: I noticed that Thill Logistics recently moved into the former Kimberly-Clark South Manufacturing facility on Byrd Avenue in Neenah. What does the company do and who are their customers?
A: Thill Logistics is a third party fulfillment company, which means it distributes goods for companies that sell on the Internet or through catalogs, infomercials, shopping networks, print or big boxes.
Penny Wilz, the company’s director of business development, explains how it works.
“Jane Doe sees a commercial on TV advertising a product. The commercial says, ‘Call now and we’ll also send you a free product.’ She calls that number and places her order. That order gets sent to us electronically. We provide the customer service from there on. We ship it, we track it and we handle customer questions and returns.”
The kinds of things Thill handles include kitchen utensils, exercise equipment, vitamins, car-cleaning gadgets and personal care products. To protect the privacy of her clients, she doesn’t name products or clients.
Besides sending merchandise directly to consumers, Wilz said they also ship goods to big box stores like Wal-Mart, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Walgreen’s.
Thill Logistics is a private company owned by members of the Thill family of Oshkosh. With this move, it will transfer its corporate headquarters and much of its company from Oshkosh to Neenah.
The company currently has three warehouses in Oshkosh, but one is slated to be torn down for bridge construction and a second was on a limited lease.
“Two of the three are going to be rerouted here. We will retain one 105,000-square-foot facility there,” Wilz said. “The company is growing by leaps and bounds. We were plain out of space in Oshkosh.”
Eventually, many of its 125 employees will work in the Neenah facility. Thill is currently sharing the 387,000-square-foot building at 355 Byrd Ave. with K-C.
K-C announced in 2005 it would phase out 150 engineering and research and development positions at its Neenah South plant, but it still uses a good deal of the building’s massive space.
“They have about two-thirds of the warehouse,” said Wilz. “As they move out, we’ll move in.”
Wilz said Thill could double in size in the next year, which means it will hire more employees in the future. “We anticipate we’ll have a total of 200 to 250 people in a year.”
She said they’re leasing with the possibility of future ownership. The building is currently listed at $9.7 million.
What a shame. Another business we've lost. Yet, the likes of Paul Esslinger has in the past and I dare say will continue to push in the future for Doug Pearson to serve in some kind of city manager capacity. That may have changed with the dumping of an interim manager idea, but this man has lost a lot of business while bringing in others. One step forward and one step backward is not my idea of getting ahead. It's time we stepped out of our own backyard to find someone to lead this city.
Bill's a jerk? Quite the opposite. Paul Esslinger never knows when to keep his mouth shut just like he doesn't know how to handle things with finesse. He's rude and arrogant toward people at council meetings and anyone who's that much of an ass in front of cameras is I bet a real SOB when cameras aren't around. For those who think Bill should pay insurance company back because he didn't go to the city attorney first, think about this. Maybe he didn’t go to the city attorney for the same reason conspiracy theorists Esslinger and McHugh didn’t go there in the first place. Of course you're too deaf, dumb and blind to have thought of that without a little assist. Happy to provide that for you.
Bill'O is evil.
If Bill'O was correct in what he did, the city insurance carrier wouldn't be paying Pauls lawyer bill.
What a complete scam Bill'O is.
Paul had the balls to call Tom P at EAA and now the city is getting paid for the waste they remove. How come Bill'O never did that?
Way to go Paul!
Esslinger used politics in trying to get rid of a department head he doesn't like. Castle used politics to expose Esslinger for the bully he is. Mission accomplished.
Castle = 1 (Esslinger exposed)
Esslinger = 0 (Kinney still here)
Boy do you not understand insurance companies, 12:15PM. Stupid as the insurance company's decision was, it would have paid even if Esslinger was wrong. Just like your car insurance pays the other person's claim even if you are at fault.
Interesting commentary at the ONW site with some discussion about Esslinger being at fault for not treqading lightly with his comments toward the city manager. He charged in like a bull(y) in a china shop and as usual his big mouth and lack of tact got him in trouble. He found a sucker with the insurance company.
Sidewalks:
Pedestrians = 1
River Mill Whiners = 0
You may think that's the score now, 2:40. April is but a mere 5 months away. :)
There's lots of "stuff" happening 'rounc the big O.
New topic please.
3:35 Hummm-
No challengers to Oshkosh Common Council yet
Thursday, December 6, 2007
by Babblemur
As of now, the only people that have pulled papers to run for the three seats up for election on the Oshkosh Common Council are the three incumbents: Burk Tower, Dennis McHugh, and Paul Esslinger.
I guess this means that everyone is pretty happy with the direction that the Common Council is taking the city.
9:04 Hummm-
Don't be surprised if there aren't papers being circulated that the city clerk's office doesn't know about.
But to satisfy the obvious smugness within your post, just essligner and McHugh may not have challengers doesn't mean people are satisfied with them. They're in the minority and as such are harmless, save for personal legal fees they may incur and saddle the taxpayers with.
Ha, not to mention the sidewalks they may saddle us with too.
To those that keep saying "Esslinger won't be re-elected in April"
Where are my alternatives?
Is anyone running against him?
I don't think he's doing a bad job, but right now I don't see any competition so most must think he's OK too.
Be careful what you wish for 9:29. Your "alternatives" have all month to get signatures and you'd probably never know they were getting them.
Well if you know of anyone canvasing for signatures, we would all like to know. I have heard very little factual details at this point. I sure would like to hear confirmation of anyone mounting a campaign.
Patience is a virtue and when the papers are officially filed is plenty of time for some people to start their bashing. Campaign season is long enough. We don't need to make it any longer by giving naysayers advance notice.
Ok...so there is nothing firm at this point or else the politicing would have begun.
Hummm....Maybe no one will collect enough signatures.
Just guess we'll have to wait and see who crawls out of the woodwork.
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