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John “Jack” Helin
(Articles are in reverse chronological order)
TAB 5
The Chieftain, (Bonner Springs, KS)
August 11, 2011
Bonner City Manager Lands on Hotseat
Author: Caroline Boyer
Some members of the Bonner Springs City Council Monday made an attempt to not renew the
contract for city manager John “Jack” Helin.
The issue arose when the council was considering an amendment to the city manager’s contract
and an ordinance establishing the salary of the city manager to allow for the 1.8 percent salary
increase the council had decided would be given to all employees in the 2012 budget, but
retroactively effective as of July 16. A motion to approve that item failed and was followed by a
motion to not extend Helin’s contract, though it was unclear if the motion would take effect
immediately. While the contract amendment and raise eventually passed, it required two halfhour
executive sessions for the council to determine the final vote.
Mayor Clausie Smith said he was “blindsided” by the four council members’ support of the
motion in opposition of Helin.
“I’m not going to speculate on what their goals are, why it came up, or what they were hoping to
accomplish,” Smith said after the meeting. “But I will say that Jack Helin is an excellent city
manager. You look at what we’ve done in the last several years, without raising property taxes
… he’s done an outstanding, outstanding job.”
The 1.8 percent increase raises Helin’s salary to $104,968, and Smith confirmed that Helin’s
annual performance review had been discussed in an executive session at a previous council
meeting with no indication of problems. Smith noted that even with the salary increase, Helin’s
annual salary would be less than that of the Edwardsville city administrator.
But council members George Cooper, Racheal Haas, Eric Freeman and Jack Knight voted in
opposition to a motion to approve the amendment to Helin’s contract, and with council member
Bob Reeves absent from the meeting, the motion failed 4-3. Smith then made a statement
regarding the situation. “Let’s face the facts, folks; if we lose the city manager, we’re going to be
spending $100,000 to replace him,” Smith said.
He added there was no reason to vote against the city manager when an employee has as high of
an evaluation as Helin received.
Council member Jeff Harrington asked that the issue be tabled until the full council was present,
but Cooper then made a motion not to renew Helin’s contract, seconded by Knight.
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