Ibisch declines job offer in Tennessee
A week after Kasson City Administrator Tim Ibisch left Minnesota to interview for the city manager position in Loudon, Tenn., and was offered the position, pending successful negotiations, Ibisch said he is rejecting the job offer.
Asked why he decided against taking the job, Ibisch in an email Tuesday morning said “Nothing particular,” and when asked wrote “I’m not currently looking at anything else.”
The Dodge County Independent broke the story last week. Ibisch, at the time, said he would be addressing the Council during its July 24 meeting. In addition to being city administrator, Ibisch also serves as general manager of Kasson Public Utilities.
As of Monday afternoon, it was unclear if Ibisch would take the position with Loudon or not.
Ibisch briefed the council he said, but not during a public meeting.
“Before the council meeting started on Wednesday, I discussed it with the Mayor and Councilmember Ferris,” Ibisch wrote in an email. “The Mayor and Councilmember Ferris make up the Personnel Committee for the city. Also, before the meeting started, Councilmember Eggler asked about it and I chatted with him. During the break between the regular and closed session I mentioned it to the other councilmembers and we talked about it informally then.”
The DCI was denied a recording of the closed session meeting.
“In accordance with Minnesota Statutes 13D.03, the closed meeting recording will be made available to the public once the labor contracts are signed,” Ibisch wrote.
Asked for clarification about what the Personnel Committee is, and if it’s required to post its agendas, Ibisch wrote “The Personnel Committee is an ad hoc committee that meets irregularly to deal with personnel issues. There are no posting requirements.”
When the DCI contacted multiple city council members, none claimed to be aware of Ibisch being a finalist for the position. The minutes from a Loudon meeting in January of this year showed Ibisch was considered as a finalist for the position.
“Frankly, you had already contacted at least some of them, so it was not news to them,” Ibisch wrote.
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