By KEVIN NEVERS

The Town of Chesterton will not be advertising for a town manager anytime soon.

But the Town Council has at least formally endorsed the principle of hiring one.

At its meeting Monday night, members took receipt of Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann’s revision of the document prepared by Member Jim Ton, R-1st, in which Ton compiled, among other things, the minimum qualifications of a successful applicant for the position of town manager and a job description.

On Monday Ton pushed his colleagues to approve the revised document and begin the process. Instead the council decided to table approval at least until after President Dave Cincoski, R-3rd, has returned from an April 17 seminar in Indianapolis, sponsored by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns (IACT), on city and town managers.

Then Ton made a motion, seconded by Member Frank Sessa, D-2nd, to approve the document without beginning the hiring process. That motion failed 2-3, with Cincoski and members Mike Bannon, R-5th, and Sharon Darnell, D-4th, voting against it.

“I don’t know why we’re hesitating,” Ton said.

“I don’t know why we’re in such a rush,” Bannon replied. In particular, he noted, any hiring made by the council could not, under state statute, extend past Dec. 31, when members’ terms expire. On the one hand, it’s likely that no eligible candidate would want to accept a position which could be only of a few months’ duration. On the other, even were the new town manager retained by the incoming council, he or she would be the hire of the previous one. “Maybe we shouldn’t hire someone when there’s going to be a new town council with at least two new members who had no say in hiring.”

In the end members did vote 5-0 formally to endorse the principle of hiring a town manager. They then voted 5-0 to table Ton’s failed motion until the April 23 meeting, by which time Cincoski will have returned from the IACT seminar.

Lukmann’s Revision

Lukmann’s revisions to Ton’s document are mostly minor ones, with two notable exceptions.

In the original version, Ton described one of the town manager’s responsibilities as follows: “Shall supervise the operation of all departments and shall, with the recommendations of department heads, consider and adjudicate any disciplinary charges against an employee.”

Lukmann revised that language in this way: “Shall coordinate the operation of all town departments and work with department heads concerning employee issues.”

In short, the revised document accords the town manager far less in the way of authority and downgrades his role from a supervisory one to a coordinating one.

Lukmann also added three qualifications of note:

•“A high level of interpersonal skills is required along with organizational and analytical skills. The candidate must have a demonstrated ability to effectively work with and, when applicable, supervise others. The ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with a number of different individuals and groups involved in promoting town development initiatives is required.”

•“Computer literacy is critical including experience with data-bases, Internet skills, and the ability to maintain and update the town website.”