• By Adriana Acosta •
• Originally published September 1, 2010 at 5:10 p.m., updated September 1, 2010 at 5:10 p.m.

Four votes at Thursday night’s city council meeting helped pass an ordinance that would remove the hiring authority to the council and mayor.

But the ordinance was short-lived and on Monday, Mayor Mark Bricker vetoed the ordinance.

Of the five-member city council group, only one voted against the ordinance.

“We need to understand what brought us to this point,” said Councilman Mayor Pro Tem Clarence Fenner. “We appear to be divided in this point.”

Fenner said he does not believe one individual should yield authority to hire an employee over another individual.

“I do not favor that that authority should be placed in the hands of one soul individual,” he added.

“I believe that this is a time that we should look for ways to build and grown and develop bridges and develop a collaborative environment,” he said.

City Council has up to 30 days to bring back the ordinance to the agenda, if they want to bring back the ordinance, said Bricker.

“Oversight of department heads are needed,” Bricker told the council members and residents attending the meeting.

This ordinance will greatly damage his influence and accountability to the citizens, he added.

Bricker said the objectives that he has now are the same as when he first ran for the office of mayor.

“Until I leave this office, I will fight for those principles,” he said. “I came to this office with an open mind and willing to work with everyone here, but today I see that everyone is not willing to work with me."

The passing of this ordinance comes after Bricker opened a Parks and Recreation employment position a month ago.

Bricker let the department head of the new position that was created and the reasons for wanting to bring someone on board, he said during the city council meeting.

Clark Young, director of the Public Works Department, mentioned to Bricker he already had a contract worker in mind to hire as a full-time employee without an application process.

“I want to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to serve in this city,” said Bricker. “If you already hand pick someone, it’s going to have to go through an application process and I need to have the oversight to see that it’s fair."

After that conversation, Bricker said the ordinance was placed on the agenda.

Young currently oversees 14 different departments, 104 employees, or more than 50 percent of city employees within the city.

Councilman Joseph Enoch said the ordinance was misinterpreted and surprised the meeting became less civil.

“It was disappointing that it got to that point, but I heard from the citizens of the city and that is what it’s all about,” he said. “If you look at the charter and current ordinance, it does not clarify who can hire in each department."

Enoch said the goal to introducing the ordinance was to clarify and ensure the right person is hired for the right job, he added.

“The bottom line is that the council and the mayor need to get along. We need to sit down and talk and insure that we are all in the same page,” he said.

Enoch plans to meet with the mayor and find common ground and work together.

“We got better things to worry about with the city,” he said. “Hopefully we can move on to the next issue and continue to promote the better of the city. That’s what I am all about."

If the ordinance is put on the agenda by city council in the coming city council meeting, residents of Bay City will call for a referendum election, said David Lyle, who is working with a few groups to come together and create a committee.

As per the Bay City charter, 1,000 qualified voters of the city or 10 percent of the qualified voters who voted at the last regular municipal election is needed.

“If it gets to this point, it will cost tax payer money,” he said. “The way city council did things, are causing the city to spend money.”

Lyle was part of the 15 members who worked on the Bay City charter in 1986.

“The city council should do some soul searching before they think about bringing back this ordinance to the agenda,” he said.

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