Assistant city administrator
April 25th, 2007 by 
Alica
City administrator Dennis Olson works in his City Hall office. Photo by Alica P. Thiele
The Brandon City Council is considering hiring an assistant city administrator. Administrator Dennis Olson is eligible for retirement in slightly more than two years. It would be a good idea to find someone who can learn the job and become familiar with the ins and outs of the city before Olson retires. It’s a big job, especially with Brandon’s growth, and it will take a good year or two to get acclimated.
It would be to Brandon’s benefit to find someone who has past experience with a growing city.
Olson isn’t the only city employee nearing retirement. Police Chief Phil Youngdale, and public works director Wayne Fletcher, will each be eligible for retirement within a year. They may choose to continue to work, but it’s still a good idea for the council to keep in mind that replacing a couple of the top city employees will come sooner rather than later.
How do you feel about the city possibly replacing three top employees roughly the same time? That could have an impact on the continuity and quality of service the city provides. It’s very possible the new employees will come from other areas and not have a knowledge of the history of the town. That could affect city government also.
What do you think?
Posted in Uncategorized | 
April 25th, 2007 at 6:57 am
If the city has been properly run then any personel transition should be easy. Nobody is irreplaceable Problems only occur when things have been hidden.
April 25th, 2007 at 7:52 am
I remember back in 1980-something, when I was on the ladies’ aid board at church. I was vice president for two years before being president. That really helped because by the time I got to be president, I had experience working with the annual events and whatnot.
So that’s the kind of thing I was talking about in my previous post. Getting acclimated.
I agree with you that none of us is irreplaceable.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:32 am
The thing that some people may not know about the operation of the City of Brandon is more a case of when you have a very small staff and everyone has their own duties, there is not enough time in any given day to share, or teach all the expertise and knowledge with everyone. This city is growing so fast and there are more problems to solve and people to serve, meetings to attend to be informed, that every day is a day filled with paperwork, phone calls and, yes, “STRESS”. I think that the staff has always been open to share with anyone know what is going on within the City of Brandon. Maybe someone that is “always listening” should go and ask some questions of those who know, and have them share some facts, so they get it first hand.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Always ask the question
Are you taking offence to my statement about hiding things? I was not implying anything at all. Alica’s opening statement asked what we thought. I only said that a transition should not be a problem, if run properly. HUmmm
April 25th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Brandon has grown tremendously in the last few years. Dennis Olson has done a fantastic job of keeping the city pointed in the right direction through numerous council and mayoral changes. There is getting to be far too much work for him alone. Plus, a replacement must be trained or Brandon will be in a world of hurt when Dennis retires and there is no one there to assume his duties.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:11 am
No offence was taken. I just think that statements like that, leads people to think that there are problems. I just feel that we need to be more positive and less negative. Also we need be more informed so we don’t have to speculate. No offence intended.
Thanks for letting me clear that up.
April 25th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Has Dennis given the city a retirement date? I guess I would wait to hire someone when he decides what that date would be. Then the city won’t have to pay an assistant for more years than necessary. However, if it’s not possible for him to handle all the work then it’s in the city’s best interest to hire him some help. What does Dennis think? Does he feel he needs it?
April 25th, 2007 at 9:41 am
As always ask questions says, everyone should be informed as to what goes on in city hall, its our tax dollars at work.
“Citizen say” yes Dennis is over worked and he feels its time for some help in his duties.
Everyone should know what he does, I DO. He’s over worked.
I am not a city employee blowing someone’s horn either. I pride myself on how much I know about the city government.
I don’t think the city should panic about the individuals that are coming up for retirement, their are people on staff that can step in until replacements are found for those individuals. Promoting within is a possiblity for some of the positions.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:37 am
The recent Challenger story quoted Dennis Olson as saying he put in 110 hours over two weeks. I don’t know if those are typical weeks, but a job that takes 55 hours a week sounds like it could use some help.
AL: I agree there’s no need to panic. It’s always a good idea to keep an eye to the future, though, yes? Also, agreed that in some cases, it’d be possible to promote from within.
Citizen: To my knowledge, Dennis hasn’t announced that he is retiring, but I’m guessing that if you asked him how much time he has left until he’s eligible, he’d be able to give you a pretty precise answer. In a couple of years when he reaches eligibility, he may or may not feel like retiring. Time will tell on that point.
It appears that Brandon is getting so big now that no one person can know everything about the town. It’s not like the old days. City Hall has added employees over the years, so maybe it’s getting to be the time to add an assistant admiinistrator.
April 25th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Dennis Olson has done an awesome job for Brandon. I recall the city hired a deputy finance officer a few years ago, so maybe some of his wealth of knowledge is being passed on already. If not, I would hope we could have someone in place before he retires–his knowledge of what past councils mandated–mandates still in place–as well as how Brandon has evolved in all aspects will need to be base knowledge for anyone trying to fill his shoes. Dennis, Phil and Wayne will all be missed for their wonderful service as caretakers of Brandon.