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John “Jack” Helin
(Articles are in reverse chronological order)
TAB 5
Helin’s contract automatically renewed on his anniversary date, July 22, and it was unclear in
the wording of Cooper’s motion if the non-renewal of Helin’s contract would take effect
immediately, terminating his employment. The Chieftain was unable to contact Cooper for
comment following the meeting, but Helin said it was his understanding that the intention of the
motion was to terminate his employment.
After a heavy moment of silence, Harrington stated that he felt the council was in “very tenuous
territory” and asked that the council go into an executive session not to exceed 30 minutes to
discuss non-elected personnel. After 30 minutes, Harrington announced that the council would
go back into another session not to exceed 30 minutes. Both executive sessions ended at the 30-
minute mark with a motion to go out of session with no action taken.
Once back in open session, Cooper stated that he would not withdraw his motion to not renew
Helin’s contract, but the motion did not pass. Haas joined Harrington, Tom Stephens and Rodger
Shannon in voting against the motion. Harrington made a motion to extend Helin’s contract with
the raise, seconded by Shannon, which passed 4-3 in a reversal of the previous vote.
After the vote, Smith cautioned that discussion of the issue needed to be continued. “In the very
near future, we will need to have an executive session to discuss the matter with the city
manager,” he said.
After the meeting, Smith said the council members voting against the renewal of the contract
indicated their main complaint about Helin was his level of customer service. “But dealing with
the public is an extremely small part of what he does,” Smith said. “We need someone who can
lead us down the path of financial security, and that’s what he does.”
Had the motion passed, Smith said he intended to ask that the action be rescinded at the next
council meeting, with the full council present. “I strongly believe a decision of that nature
should not be made without a full council on hand,” he said.
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