Brett Wagner not retained as county planner for 2017

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Putnam County will be looking for a new planning commission director in 2017 after the commissioners chose not to retain current Planner Brett Wagner.

While considering annual personnel appointments during their regular meeting on Monday, the commissioners renewed all appointees seeking retention except for Wagner.

Wagner was the first appointee on the agenda and Commissioner Don Walton moved to reappoint him.

Neither David Berry nor Rick Woodall provided a second and the motion died.

Wagner was notified of the decision after the meeting.

The planning commission director position has been a revolving door in recent years since the 2011 firing of Kim Hyten.

Sandy Amers replaced Hyten and served until resigning in May 2014. Replacing Amers a month later was Doug Ehmen.

Ehmen was terminated in January 2015, and Wagner was hired March 2015.

No reason was publicly given for the decision not to retain Wagner. As a personnel matter, no public comment is required of the commissioners.

The commissioners have announced they are accepting applications for the position. Applications and letters of interest should be submitted to the Putnam County auditor by Jan. 31.

The only other appointment in which a change is coming is the position of Soil and Water Conservation District director.

Former SWCD Director Sue Crafton has been on leave due to health issues for some time and officially submitted her resignation prior to the meeting, thanking the commissioners for the opportunity.

The SWCD board already appointed Shane Johnson as her interim replacement, bring up the question on whether the commissioners even need to or have the power to appoint the position. The power may instead lie with the SWCD board.

“I don’t remember you appointing her (Crafton) in the past,” County Attorney Jim Ensley said. “It was my understanding that you appoint members to the SWCD board.”

While the question is awaiting resolution, the commissioners went ahead and appointed Johnson as interim director.

The question of who appoints the position will be revisited before either the SWCD board or the commissioners consider permanently appointing a new director.

Nearly all other positions were reappointed unanimously, including: County Attorney Ensley, Art Kenworthy at building inspector, Tom Gilson as maintenance supervisor, Michael Phillips as courthouse custodian, Ken Hutcheson as part-time custodian, Jerry Williamson as veterans’ officer, Nicole Watson as microfilm director, Mike Ricketts as highway supervisor, Robin Hughes as highway administrative assistant, Royal Secor as weights and measures inspector, Robbie Cudnik as GIS director and Tom Helmer as EMA director.

Courthouse head custodian Brian Smith and highway secretary Brenda Turner were retained by a 2-1 margin, with Berry dissenting.

E-911 Director Dave Costin was retained 2-1 with Woodall voting nay.

Comments
View 2 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • The county will never have a quality planner until they are willing to raise the salary. You get what you pay for.

    -- Posted by Ben Dover on Wed, Dec 21, 2016, at 9:26 AM
  • Planning and zoning is a waste of time and money for the county. I observe little difference between counties with and without zoning. If you have the money and power what you want gets done.

    -- Posted by taylortwp on Wed, Dec 21, 2016, at 12:00 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: