The Kenton County city of Ludlow’s most recent resolution to appoint a city administrator failed once again at Thursday’s city council meeting after council members opposed how the hiring process was handled.
“This is the last time I will bring the resolution up,” said Mayor Sarah Thompson, while defending her role in the process.
Per both Kentucky law state and Ludlow’s local policy, the mayor can appoint non-elected officials with final approval from council
A city administrator works full-time — assisting in city finance and budgeting, supervising city employees, and providing research to the mayor and council for policies and procedures. The administrator reports directly to the city mayor.
For the past nearly two months, Thompson has been trying to hire Christopher Courtney to fill Ludlow’s open position. Courtney worked for the Northern Kentucky Area Development District under local government services — in a department that helps cities like Ludlow find suitable candidates for non-elected officials.
But council members questioned whether Courtney had gotten special treatment because of his previous affiliation.
“Chris Courtney was here prior to the job being posted either to the [Kentucky League of Cities] or the Ludlow city website,” council member Julie Terry Navarre said in a meeting last month.
Now, it’s unclear if or when Ludlow will have a new city administrator.
At Thursday’s meeting, council member David Ziegler said the mayor should not be expected to go without an administrator.
“Rethink this, just so we can get somebody in place,” Ziegler, the only member present in support of Courtney’s appointment, said.
Council member Stephen Chapman voted against the motion. He said he believed the mayor was not transparent in her hiring process, and said the city should wait to see how it plays out.
“I just don’t think we need [a city administrator] right now,” he said.
Council member Meagan Guthrie argued the mayor has consulted the council in similar manners before but didn’t do so this time around. She called it a double standard and said she hopes to have stricter guard rails between what communication between council and mayor looks like.
“The mayor was trying to make that distinction between what was executive and what was legislative,” Guthrie said. “There has always been that blurred line.”
Ludlow has gone without an administrator since early March.
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