Some concerned about speed in hiring new Elgin city manager

When Elgin City Manager Femi Folarin revealed his plans to retire by June, it did not surprise too many people.

But what did come as a surprise was the announcement that same day that the city council had agreed to appoint Assistant City Manager Sean Stegall as Folarin's replacement.

While none of the 10 people running for three, 4-year Elgin City Council seats on April 7 has serious questions about Stegall's qualifications, some have problems with the timing of it all.

"I think it was a bad move on the mayor's part and the council's part to do it that close to the election and not even take applications regionally," said candidate Bruce Trego. "To do it beforehand is just bad form."

Trego is one of seven challengers in the race. Others are: Richard Dunne, Brenda Harris Khan, Shane Nowak, John Prigge, Linda Quezada and Lenora Scruggs.

Three incumbents - Robert Gilliam, Juan Figueroa and John Walters - are seeking re-election.

They all stressed that Stegall has been with the city since 2000, is in charge of the city's budget, has been mentored by Folarin and has been highly recruited by other municipalities.

"We need leadership. We need continuity," Gilliam said. "If he wasn't approved, there's a chance somebody would pick him up and then we've lost our two top people."

Dunne said he believes Stegall is "very capable" but said the council members could have waited until a new, full council was seated. "We're talking three, four weeks. That's not that long of a period," he said.

Khan said the decision was "fast and unnecessarily early" but noted a search firm would have cost the city money.

Nowak noted Stegall's appointment is fine for now as long as he performs. Nowak said Stegall is 36 and could stay with the city for decades as opposed to an older candidate who might retire in a few years.

Prigge said the city should have named Stegall as "interim manager" until after the election. "I've heard wonderful things about him. But I would not want to close the door on anybody else," he said.

Quezada and Scruggs said the community should have been more involved in deciding what qualities they wanted in a new city manager, similar to the way school districts get parent input for a new superintendent.

"There's no rush," Quezada said. "It didn't sit right with me."

Scruggs agreed. "I don't think they should have automatically appointed Sean," she said. "It's just they way (the council) went about it. That's all we're saying."

Stegall said the recruitment, selection and hiring of a city manager, whether from inside or out, is an important decision for the council and the community.

"Any opinions regarding the process, comments, feedback, etc., are understandable," he said. "There's going to be many opinions."