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Foss leaves Weyauwega

City needs new administrator

By Angie Landsverk


Ten months after becoming Weyauwega’s city administrator, John Foss has resigned.

The common council approved a resignation agreement with him Monday, May 21, during its regular monthly meeting.

“It states what was in the contract for separation,” said Ald. Keith Najdowski, who is the council president.

His resignation is effective as of that date.

“There was a request from his attorney that he wanted to resign,” said Najdowski.

That took place May 10.

May 9 was the last day Foss was physically at city hall, Najdowski said.

Once the city learned Foss wanted to resign, he was asked to take a leave of absence until an agreement was finalized, he said.

On May 14, the city received the terms Foss was requesting, Najdowski said.

“The terms he requested were in line with what his contract said,” he said.

The city worked out an agreement last week. It was drafted by Bob Burns, an attorney at Davis & Kuelthau.

After receiving the signed agreement from Foss on May 21, the council took action on it that same day.

Najdowski said the council did so in order to immediately begin the process of finding a new administrator.

Mayor Jack Spierings and council members were surprised by Foss’ resignation and did not want to speculate on why he did so.

His first performance evaluation had been scheduled for this month.

“We wanted to focus on the performance review to make sure everyone was on the same page. We were moving forward with that,” Najdowski said.

The council held a special meeting to discuss in closed session how it wanted to approach the evaluation process, he said.

That meeting took place May 3.

After learning Foss wanted to resign, the city invited Russ Van Gompel to Monday’s council meeting.

Van Gompel is with Integrated Public Resources, a McMahon Group Company located in Neenah.

The common council hired Integrated Public Resources last year to head the search for the city’s next administrator after Patrick Wetzel resigned to become the administrator in the town of Lawrence.

It hired the firm to do so at a cost not to exceed $8,500.

Close to 30 people applied for the city position, with five candidates chosen for interviews.

The council unanimously approved an employment agreement with Foss during a special meeting last July, and his first day on the job was July 24.

During this week’s council meeting, Van Gompel said he is willing to assist the city again on a per hour basis.

The council agreed to hire Integrated Public Resources at a cost not to exceed $1,350.

When the city’s Finance Committee meets on June 4, it will review what Van Gompel drafts.

The city plans to post the job opening for four weeks, with the period closing on July 6.

Van Gompel said the council could meet in closed session on July 16 to discuss the candidates and set an interview schedule.

“It’s an opportunity to move to the future to see who’s out there,” Najdowski said. “If this wasn’t a good fit. We hope there is a better one.”

The mayor agrees.

“Maybe we’ll have better luck with the next one,” he said.

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