MORGANTOWN — 30 months.
38 months.
39 months.
(Almost) 48 months.
The numbers are approximate, but they’re close enough to paint the picture.
If Morgantown’s current city manager, Kim Haws, stays through Dec. 1, he’ll have been with the city for four years — 48 months.
That would actually make him the longest serving of the city’s last four managers, with a tenure on par with a single term on Morgantown City Council.
It was announced on Thursday that Haws intends to retire at some point “in the near future.”
The city spent $24,300 on a national search to hire Haws, who came to Morgantown after two decades as the city manager down the road, in Bridgeport.
A little over four years previous, the city spent $22,000 on the search to land Paul Brake.
Before that, it was Jeff Mikorski, who was promoted from assistant city manager after more than a decade with the city. Prior to Mikorski it was Terrence Moore, who stayed about two-and-a-half years.
None of these men were fired. They all chose to leave. Their average tenure — roughly 38 months.
You have to go back to Dan Boroff to find a manager who stayed more than four years. He spent just under 18 years in the position.
“I think, on average, I’ve read that city managers generally have about a seven-year tenure here in West Virginia. Ours has been half that lately,” Morgantown City Councilor Danielle Trumble said. “I’m not really sure why that is.”
During a recent discussion of potential city charter changes, Trumble suggested council explore a move away from a city manager form of governance in favor of an elected mayor, or strong mayor.
“In my mind, one of the perceived benefits of having a city manager who runs the day-to-day instead of a strong mayor is that a city manager is supposed to create some form of continuity,” she said. “But that doesn’t seem to be working out in our favor.”
While Trumble said she was not referencing Haws or anyone else in particular, she said city council essentially serves as an insulator for the city manager, who can operate as he or she wishes backed by a voting majority of council.
Charleston and Huntington have elected mayors as well as a form of city manager to handle the city’s administrative duties.
“I think that if Morgantown wants to be viewed as one of these major cities – and we are the third largest city right behind Charleston and Huntington in size – in order to be taken seriously throughout the state, and for our mayors to be taken seriously, we should move to an elected mayor system,” she said.
