Indian Hills General Improvement District delays replacing manager

More study will be needed before a replacement is named for Indian Hills General Improvement District manager Jim Bentley, who resigned last week.

That was the conclusion of the Indian Hills board, which called a special meeting Thursday to address the issues. The board will readdress the issue in one week, after they've taken more time for research.

Bentley, whose resignation is effective Wednesday, did not attend the meeting and has been on sick leave. Employees of the Indian Hills General Improvement District have stepped up, but that's a temporary fix, according to district officials.

Andy Joyner, interim manager of field operations, said there have been a lot of challenges, but employees have worked together to meet them.

"We had a lot of things to handle," Joyner said. "We did well as a team, but there are a lot of things going on in administration we don't know much about.

"Administration is the toughest challenge and for that, we turn to Vicky (Reifer, Bentley's executive assistant)," he said.

Trustee Art Baer said Indian Hills employees are professionals, but the organization needs a coordinator.

Trustee Laura Lau said she wanted to study the issues before making a decision.

"In the short term, we have competent employees that can do a good job until we decide what we want," she said. "We don't have to make any rash decisions."

Officials discussed everything from appointment of board chairman Chuck Swanson as interim manager to dissolution of the district. Swanson removed himself from the board for the discussion concerning his potential employment.

A licensed civil engineer in Nevada and California, Swanson has managed organizations responsible for water and sanitary systems, roads, parks, and buildings with the U.S. Army, the National Park Service, and the City of San Francisco.

Most recently, he was the public works director for Lyon County.

In addition to acting as general manager, Swanson suggested he take the position for 26 weeks to study the organization and help choose a new manager. He asked the board for $1,750 per week with no compensation for benefits, retirement, vacation or sick leave.

"My concern is, we need to get someone in permanently and the sooner the better," Lau said. "We don't have the money to hire someone at this wage. We need to seriously think about cutting down expenses."

The next meeting of the board will be Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. at the District Board Room, 3394 James Lee Park in Indian Hills.