WAUPUN ADMINISTRATOR RESIGNS

SOURCE: Fond du Lac Reporter

WAUPUN — City Administrator Gary Rogers — who has been publicly challenged by local critics — will be leaving the city of Waupun.

After serving the city for seven years, Rogers, 56, announced during a closed session Common Council meeting Tuesday evening that he will be heading back to Iowa, where he has agreed to take a city administrator position in the city of Hiawatha near the Cedar Rapids metro area.

"A lot of my decision was based on professional growth. However, some of it was personal," said Rogers, who leaves July 6.

The city administrator has been the target of a local group of citizens calling themselves the Citizens of Waupun for Leadership Change. The group, spearheaded by local businessman Dan Ganz, launched a recall effort earlier this month to oust Mayor Jodi Steger. Their beef with Steger is that she did not fire Rogers.

Ganz contends that Rogers has turned a deaf ear to the concerns of local citizens, especially the business community.

"The two goals of our group in this recall effort were to create an awareness of how city government has been operating and the removal of (Rogers)," said Ganz.

He said the continuation of the recall effort depends largely on how (Rogers') position will be filled.

"I want to get Mayor Steger's thoughts on what the succession plan is for the position and how citizens and the business community can get involved in that process so we can avoid some of the pitfalls we experienced during the first go-round," he said.

Steger said she was disheartened over the news of Rogers' departure, adding that the claims of critics have bordered on slanderous.

"People should look at the quality of work that he has done while he was here and what he was able to accomplish for the city. I think that is what has gone under the radar," Steger said.

Rogers was hired under the leadership of former Mayor Bob Reinap in 2002.

"This was the first time that we had full-time leadership at City Hall. Before that, there was no accountability for full-time staff. He provided the checks and balances to make sure taxpayers were getting their money's worth," Steger said.

In spite of allegations from his critics — including new alderman Matt Hickmann, whose campaign platform was to remove Rogers from office — Rogers maintains that his role is to implement the priorities of the City Council, including the renovation of the Safety Building, public library and municipal garage.

"I believe (Hickmann's) dissatisfaction with me stems from lack of understanding of what my role here is," Rogers said.

City officials have also been criticized for the perceived lack of communication between city hall and the public. Rogers agrees that open communication is important in government, noting that budget constraints forced both the school district and city to scrap filming council meetings on the Public Education and Government channel.

"The mayor writes a weekly column in the local shopper and two newspapers and radio stations carry stories about what's going on. But no matter how well you try, people will say that they don't get the paper or listen to the radio," Rogers said. "Should we stop trying? No. If people looked at our Web site right now they could find my report to City Council on there. Hopefully, the reports of all department heads will be online. We'd like to look at some pod casts but that all takes money."

Steger said that she and Council President Pete Kaczmarski will begin looking at the process to replace Rogers.

"The council has agreed to find an interim administrator under the guidance and direction of Gary Rogers," Steger said. "The city needs an experienced administrator, someone who knows how to bring people together and make things happen."