Posted: Monday, August 25, 2008 7:44 pm

Mark Leiferman

By JAMES ANDERSON

Managing Editor


WASECA — Depending on who or how you asked Monday, the city of Waseca may or may not have had a Community Development Director on the payroll.

Technically, it did — and still does — at least until a severance package is worked out. However, chances are that Mark Leiferman won’t be in his office again.

When reached via cell phone Monday morning, Leiferman, Waseca’s Community Development Director for the past decade, said that he was still employed by the city of Waseca, and that he was “on vacation.”

City Manager Crystal Prentice, however, offered a bit more detailed definition of Leiferman’s employment with the city.

“We’re in the middle of discussions on a severance agreement,” she said, confirming that Leiferman left late last week and will not be returning to his position.

Mayor Roy Srp said he wasn’t pleased with Leiferman’s departure, and indicated that rifts between Leiferman and city council members may have in part led to Leiferman’s decision.

“There was a majority of the council headed toward dissatisfaction,” he said. “It was decided that in [Leiferman’s] opinion, it was best to move on. This does not make the mayor happy.”

Srp declined to offer specifically which city council members may have been dissatisfied with Leiferman or why.

“To get into specifics would do none of us any good,” Srp said.

Councilman John Clemons was equally tight-lipped about what may have led to Leiferman’s departure.

“It sounds like normal attrition to me,” he said.

While city council members are free to voice dissatisfaction in a city employee’s performance, the position of community development director reports to city manager Crystal Prentice and is entirely under her watch.

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“It’s not something I saw coming,” Prentice said.

The city council does, however, have the authority to add or remove entire departments from the city’s budget. With a majority of four votes, council members could vote to remove the city’s development department — of which Leiferman and the community development secretary are the only employees — if they choose to do so.

Prentice said no such move had been discussed as far as she was aware of.

In 2007, Leiferman’s staff was reduced when an assistant planner position was eliminated. The move left Leiferman and an assistant with a heavy workload.

“It was a skeleton staff, and it was him,” Srp said. “He had a really difficult position.”

Srp said Leiferman “was so instrumental in so many things in Waseca.”

After a 10-year career with the city of Waseca, Leiferman will be missed by more than just the mayor.

Former city council member Mark Christiansen has worked closely with Leiferman throughout the years.

“As a member of the EDA and Planning Commission for the past eight years, I have relied on Mark’s wealth of information to coordinate the work our committees have accomplished. Downtown reviatilization, small cities grants, and TIF districts are accomplished by our community development department. These types of projects will now need to be hired out at a considerable expense to the taxpayers,” Christiansen said.

As for business at City Hall, Serp said “business will be conducted as normal — we’ll continue to appraise things and continue to work things out.”

Neither Prentice or Srp gave an indication as to when a new community development director may be hired. Technically, Prentice said, Leiferman is still employed by the city.

“We don’t really have a resignation in hand now,” she said. “We’re working on a mutual agreement.”

One thing is for certain. Srp confirmed Monday that Leiferman has handed in his keys and will not be back to work in Waseca.


James Anderson can be reached at 837-5443 or janderson@wasecacountynews.com