Marion agrees to hire
interim administrator

By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Marion City Council members voted Monday to approve a contract with an interim city administrator.

Mark McAnarney, former city manager of Emporia, will fill the void left by the resignation Nov. 15 of Brogan Jones — assuming McAnarney signs the contract council members approved.

Councilman Zach Collett told council members that Mayor Mike Powers, who missed the meeting because of COVID-19, had come up with a proposal for McAnarney after consulting with him in the two weeks since council members first discussed him.

After a 10-minute executive session to go over the terms of the contract, council members voted for McAnarney to begin the job Feb. 15.

Under the contract’s terms, he typically will work three days a week and be paid $488 for a full day or $244 for a day of five hours or less. Employee benefits would not be included.

At three days a week, he would be paid $76,128 a year.

McAnarney most recently was interim administrator of Neodesha, where Jones went when he left Marion.

McAnarney has an undergraduate degree in history and education from Washburn University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas.

His wife, Amy McAnarney, is principal of Free State High School in Lawrence, where the couple live.

Although Marion County Record requested a copy of the contract, Powers declined to provide it until after it was signed by McAnarney. The Record contends that state law makes any document referred to in an open meeting and acted upon by the council subject to release.

In other matters Monday, council members:

• Heard from Donald Wilson, who has been working to rehabilitate a house at 202 Miller St., that city inspector James Masters had still not come to give him a punch list of things he wants done before he thinks the house is in satisfactory condition. The house has been discussed with the council since September, and council members voted in October to seek demolition bids.
• Heard from Megan Jones, co-owner of Bill and Essie’s barbecue, that work on the building she and her husband Daryl purchased at Main and 3rd Sts. in Marion had progressed enough for window service to begin this weekend.
• Approved a conditional use permit for a new health department building at the former location of the county food bank, provided the school board provides an easement for traffic from a drive-through area.
• Heard from a Marion Merchants representative who proposed hiring an economic development director before hiring a permanent city administrator.
• Voted to purchase laptop computers for the five members of the city council at a cost of $4,672.85.
• Heard interim police chief Zach Hudlin say he wants to buy six new body cameras — one for each officer — under a 50/50 matching grant program even though body cameras police now have “are working fine.”