Government
Corbett, Prosser jockey for the lead
Posted on Nov 07, 2009 by Rick Smith.
Ron Corbett, Mayor elect (left); Jim Prosser, City manager (right)
CEDAR RAPIDS — Mayor-elect Ron Corbett said he and City Manager Jim Prosser are like dance partners who didn’t invite each other to the dance.
They are dancing anyway.
The two met Saturday at the Spring House restaurant for an initial face-to-face after Corbett’s landslide victory Tuesday over City Council member Brian Fagan. Fagan is a strong Prosser backer and was part of the council that hired Prosser three years ago.
A theme of Corbett’s campaign was that the council had abdicated its leadership role to Prosser, giving him too much power to set policy and make decisions.
Before Saturday’s breakfast meeting, Corbett repeated what he had said on the campaign trail: He will ask council colleagues to conduct a 90-day assessment of Prosser’s performance.
“I’m not going to jump to the conclusion that it’s going to be a positive or negative assessment,” Corbett said. “It has to be an honest 90-day assessment period.”
Corbett said that the City Hall landscape had changed Tuesday because of his 26-percentage-point victory, and he wants to see what Prosser’s opinion of that is.
Corbett, 49, vice president of trucking firm CRST Inc., said he believes voters sent two messages: That Prosser and the council majority have made wrong decisions — including the push to build a $50 million City Hall — and that the council and Prosser generally have been too slow to act.
Prosser, 58, noted last week he had worked as city manager in Richfield, Minn., for 13 years under three mayors.
“It’s not unusual to see that (city) managers are part of the campaign, part of the issues,” he said.
Prosser said there is a reason for elections, and after them, a city manager works with the new council to see what direction the council members, not just the new mayor, want to go.
As for Corbett’s call for a 90-day assessment of him, Prosser said it was understandable.
“It’s always important to get clearly defined expectations from whoever you’re working with,” he said, “and that’s the sense I get here.”
Exactly what changes Corbett will be able to insist upon is far from clear. The current nine-member council has had a working majority, and that majority has been pleased with Prosser.
Two members of that majority — current Mayor Kay Halloran and Fagan — will be gone, and it remains to be seen if Corbett can build his
own working majority. Council members Monica Vernon and Justin Shields supported Corbett in the campaign, as did Chuck Swore, who was elected Tuesday by a healthy margin to one of the city’s at-large council positions.
Two races are up for grabs in a Dec. 1 runoff, a fact that last week had not gone unnoticed by either Corbett or Prosser.
In District 3, incumbent Jerry McGrane, who supported Corbett, is running against Pat Shey, an at-large council member; and Don Karr Jr., a Corbett supporter, is up against Aaron Saylor for an at-large seat.
Council member Chuck Wieneke, who represents District 4 and is a strong Prosser backer, said last week that Prosser isn’t sitting around, clinging to his job.
“My biggest fear,” Wieneke said, “is that Jim Prosser will decide there’s been enough criticism, and he will just walk out the door.”
Prosser’s departure,
he said, would leave the city in the lurch for months while the council tried to find a replacement.
“There are cities in the country that would steal Prosser in a minute and give him a lot more money,” Wieneke said.
Prosser said his job is to serve the council and the community and to help the council achieve its goals.
“I came here because I want this job,” Prosser said. “This is what I want to do.”
Wieneke said there is some anti-Prosser sentiment in some circles in Cedar Rapids and among some backers of Mayor-elect Corbett. Some of those people, Wieneke said, haven’t adjusted to the city’s council/manager government. He said they miss the days when they could call City Hall and quickly get their way on things.
Wieneke said Corbett’s biggest challenge will be to convince his supporters who want Prosser gone that, in fact, Prosser is invaluable and needs to stay.
The newly elected Swore was on the council in 2006 and supported hiring Prosser then.
Now, like Corbett, he believes Prosser has assumed too much control over city government.
“But if Ron and I are the only two who think that way, then nothing’s going to change,” Swore said, “and I think that would be a huge disappointment.”
Under the city charter, it takes six of nine council votes to remove a city manager.
“I work at the pleasure of the council, and I understand and respect that,” Prosser said. “For me, this isn’t about counting votes. It’s about being effective.
“And if I’m not effective and I’m not contributing, then I shouldn’t be here.”
When are people going to get it. Jim Prosser is just a ploy to appease the electorate who are impatient and don't understand all the red tape that the city government has to go through just to get anything done. The electorate wants what they want now and that is all that matters to them!
Seriously Ron, we voted you in so you could get rid of Prosser please don't let us down. You told us to put our trust in you and that is exactly what we did now get him out of there!
Time for Prosser to go and when he dose pack Gulick under his arm. Take Fa gen under the other arm. Hopefully that will turn the tide and get us back on track.
I was really hoping Gulick would loose, that guy is worthless
a non-elected official such has Prosser has no business telling the elected officials (who actually run the city) what to do. Prosser needs to go, sooner the better!!
So Wieneke is afraid Prosser will walk out the door. Trust me, there are a whole bunch of people in CR that would hold the door open for both of them.
WWJD1, its been my experience in just the opposite in dealing with Prosser and his vision of Cedar Rapids, MN. He has added a lot of red tape and nonsensically reorganized many parts of the cities workings to meet his agenda. The city is no better off with him than it was without him before his hire. You can take away the flood and his job performance before it was not very good IMO and you could probably find many city employees that'll agree with this assessment.
I have never liked the fact that we have a city official with that much power who was not elected by the people, and is not accountable to the people nor removable by the people. I was in favor of the commission form of government staying, but that’s beside the point.
I lost faith in Prosser when he said, and he meant it, for CRFD to dump their load of water on the way to a medical call. What if a fire had broken out? you can’t spill 750 gallons of water on the street in Cedar Rapids in the dead of winter. Not safely anyway.
I am not a firefighter nor a City of Cedar Rapids employee. I do live in CR, and I support Unions, accountability and common sense.
Jim Prosser demonstrates a very reasonable attitude toward the change in the council and not taking criticism personally. Everyone who thinks Prosser is doing such a terrible job and he needs to go, how fast do you think things will get done if he is let go?
Jim Prosser's job is to manage to operations of the city, based on the council's decisions. It is also his job to make professional recommendations based on his knowledge and expertise to the council. Certainly he has much more experience of municipal operations than the majority of elected council members, so I don't understand why the council using his recommendations has been misconstrued as the City Manager having too much power. The City Council still has all the power and Jim Prosser has brought professional, efficient management to our city government.
Wow that is my thinking exactly. Prosser has a thankless job and the power he carries is the result of the council giving him that power. He is a professional and has been down this road before, so he can adjust to differences in each council.
I believe he has demonstrated a very reasonable attitude, also. He has been very professional about not taking the 90 day reveiw personally, and that is very hard for most people to do. I also applaud Ron for keeping an open mind until the reveiw is complete. Jim may have overstepped what the public believe to be his role, but I believe he did not overstep what the council asked him or allowed him to do.
“My biggest fear,” Wieneke said, “is that Jim Prosser will decide there’s been enough criticism, and he will just walk out the door.”
The City was operating fine before Prosser, many people believe much better, and will continue to work if Prosser leaves. Wieneke should talk to someone about his fears, it's not healthy.
There is no accountability in this form of goverment. it never has run efficently. It never will run effeciently. THe council should be setting plans and goals and policy. None of that happens. Prosser needs to go. The rumor mill suggests that Jan is when the charter is up. Prosser does what he wishes, and the current council in the interest of making him look good, might as well rubber stamp yes to everyidea. CR government has growm leaps and bounds since restructuring. We have instituted a sales tax on ourself for floor relief which doesnt not seem to be working, we have endured horrid streets, we have endured red light cameras and speed cameras which are another tax no matter how you slice it. Im sure this debate will never stop
Fewer employees, fewer services delivered lowest taxes in a metropolitan Iowa City. If your going to make accusations, find something real.
Hiawatha Bob you are on point. Seriously, why does CR have so many people threatened at change. No they want city services to be all spread out over 75 square miles. 75 sq miles that are in current city limits. Now you cheap POS's are you going to drive from Northeast to southeast at $2.60 per gallon. I bet you complain about that too. How much do you spend on heating your house per month. Just think if you have all services under one roof and they are being warmed by Giothermal Air. Huge TAX PAYER SAVINGS. IF you are going to build a new city hall I vote do it RIGHT THE FIRST TIME.
It's time for the city council to get some training as a group. Some of them are floundering around and it is apparent that they do not understand their roles. When Mr. Prosser gives them options for flood rebuilding, they beat their tables, flop around, and have no idea how to tell him what they want. They need training! They market themselves to to Gazette reporters, spew unprofessional comments about their employee (Mr. Prosser), and have lost focus on the work they need to get done because they are trying to do the city manager's job. It appears that some of them are consumed by some sort of junior-high-ish popularity contest. Please, for the sake of our community, stop trying to build yourselves up by taking down an accomplished city manager, get some training, learn your job, stop playing to the crowd, and focus on what you need to accomplish!
I had to deal with Mr. Prosser on a city issue this year. He treated me with the up most respect and some times even dropped what he was doing to meet me. I’m just your average citizen but he always told me that I’m a resident of this city and that is very important to him.
Whether or not Prosser is a nice guy who treats you with the utmost respect is not the issue here. What is at issue is who is leading the City, our elected officials or our City Manager. IMO, it needs to be the elected officials.
Owens you are one Dumb Ace.
The el ected of ficials running the City went by the wayside when the people voted to change the charter to a Ci ty Ma nager form of Gov ernment
There is a difference between leading and running.
owen you are correct the elected officials holds the power, prosser does not, to bad the elected officials in this town are not smart enough to realize this
I vote to fly you to area 51; you are one off the wall human……
The mayor and council only work part time. Prosser works more then full time. I would listen to him over the mayor and council. Remmber the great Corbit is only one vote. If I were on that council no mayor would tell me how to vote.
you do not understand how it works
Well, this was quite informative. When did Chuck Wieneke become the head cheerleader for our
City Manager? I believe it was June 2008 until present. His bias and rubber stamp has been
so obvious and growing since the flood. If he had been half the defender of the flood citizens as he is the city manager many people would be back in their homes. Word on the street for quite some time is Wieneke is not representing the west side flooded area.He has made it clear no
no homes near the river. Hang in there folks Mr. W is up for election in 2 years Hope there is some people left in Time Check to vote him out of office..
How about presenting your point of view, and allowing others to do the same, and doing all of this without the childish name calling.
TheWise1 is not so wise………….
I am amazed how many people do not understand why we hold elections and the difference between elected and appointed people, this is truly scary………………………..
The people of Cedar Rapids voted for this form of government. You wanted a Full Time Manager and a Part-Time Council. Now you are angry because the council is made up of people that really have no idea how to run a city. But we have a manager that is a pro at it. Yet still the dismal turnout at last weeks vote goes to show that there are a lot of people in CR that love to complain about their government but will do nothing about it.
Everyone felt that the city government was out of control and was spending too much. So they hired Prosser knowing his background for trimming the fat and trim it he did.
Now everyone is mad cause their services have been cut. But what did you expect? You don't want more taxes but you do not want to lose any services?… hmm.
This is nothing but a power struggle between two alpha males… and CR is the "toy" they are fighting over…
If Corbett wanted to be in control of CR maybe he should have given his resume to the council for the city manager position instead of running for position of part-time Mayor.
Excellent, I couldn't agree more.
You nailed it, especially the part about the power struggle between two men who are being territorial.
End. Of. Thread. Lock it up. Take a look at Sioux City's council and mayor and the city's track record. This is what CR voted for. Infighting and incompetence brought on by mere popularity contests and a mayor who really has no power.
Wow you have so much incorrect information, please show me where the cut in budget is, I mean really please show. the numbers do not lie…………
Now the real power always lies with the elected officials which is lead by the mayor, not by some stupid idiot from Minnesota. His job is to do what he is told to do by the elected officials. The mayor is the true power of Cedar Rapids, not Prosser.
The only power struggle is the elected officials retaking their authority and power from a non-elected person who should never have had the power and authority that was given to him, in violation of the trust of the people.
Are you name calling Jamesman as you have an IQ of 75 and cannot use your intellect to intellegently write your thoughts down?
touch a nerve???? Gee love your attack on me, when I was not even talking about, who has the lower IQ??? Sure not me I directed my attack to a public official which I have a right to do, you took a typical liberal stance attack the person who disagrees with you. So how about this grow up, get a life, figure something out for yourself. And bugger off.
No, the people voted for a council-manager form of government and got a strong manager form instead. This is largely the fault of the leadership void that was created by the Halloran/Fagan administration. Prosser stepped up because he had to. The problem is, now he has grown accustomed to power that is not supposed to be his. Will he give it back or not is the question. I am thankful Ron Corbett is the new mayor and will make sure Prosser understand his role.
Prosser did not trim any fat. He eliminated those with any knowledge of city government and kept the very worst city government had to offer. Take a look at how many he layed off and then count how many he has hired since then. You will find he has hired many more than were "trimmed". Begs the question why we need consultants when we have an army of new Prosser hires at city hall.
I agree the fault lies with the lack of leadership. Prosser did what he thought needed to be done. That may not have been what the rest of the city thought needed to be done, but without guidance, Jim used his judgement.
I've been to quite a few council meetings and I can't ever recollect a time where Prosser acted like he had more power than the council. In fact, he would always ask for direction from the council, and would give his opinion only when asked by them. I think he's become the fall guy for the ineffective council.
My point exactly, the current council has not taken the leadership role we elected them to but we continue to fall into the popularity and "bright light savior" mentality. Instead of forcing our elected officials to take a leadership role we drag on Prosser for trying to keep things moving forward.
Perhaps the reason Prosser took on too much responsibility in the past was because the Mayor didn't take enough! Corbett promises to be a more effective leader. I believe him!
As I see it, the council has a responsibility to the districts they represent and Prosser has the responsibility for operating the city according to the wishes of the council. If the council does not use its authority to suggest a change the manager must assume whatever he has taken up with the council is the direction the city should go in. So what most are complaining about seems to be some misunderstanding of who to blame for whatever happened, and in lou of knowing exactly what should be done we toss the whole works out and start over. Not a good plan. I am not fond of any of the current or even the recently elected council members and I am not paticularily fond of Prosser, but you have to have a working group in order to run this city, so lets get on with it. If you have a gripe petition for change, raise H, but don't think you are going to solve problems by firing everybody and starting over, it doesn't work that way.
LOL!!! You voters asked for it. You voted for it. I told you before the election: THROW THEM ALL OUT!! So you deserve four more years of this. No, don't even bother responding. You had your chance.
We need to find out how we get a ballot initiative to return the mayor's job to just that. Mayor. Not a city wide elected council member.
26% landslide votes ought to make that an easy thing to do.
So how do we do it?
lets get it right folks. the city council is a part-time job, they vote on things and thats about it. prosser runs the city and thats because he was educated on how to do so plus well over 30 years of running cities. he will prbly now leave this city and more money and effort will spent on trying to figure out what to do next, you'll be sorry.