BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg City Councilor David Price is calling for a change in the city charter that would give the city manager exclusive power of hiring and firing of employees and require five votes from city council to remove the city manager.

Councilor David Price said the resolution is to protect the progress that’s been made to the city’s finances over the past several years and to provide stability to the city as four members of council leave office.

Price was among four candidates who lost in the recent election.

Price said he does not see the resolution as move to disempower the new board, but rather ensure that if employees are fired, it’s based on performance and not personal vendettas.

“If this passes, the council will need an affirmative vote of the majority plus one. In Ogdensburg it takes six affirmative votes to sell a piece of property. I think the decision to remove a department head is at least as important,” he said.

Price said the city council can still can still remove the city manager for cause; it will just require more council members to stand by the decision.

“This purpose of these changes is to protect Democracy and ensure that four people with a personal agenda don’t destroy the progress that’s been made. If the city manager deserves to be fired, five people are going to vote yes. It does not take away their power, it really doesn’t,” he said.

Ogdensburg residents will have a chance to speak on the proposed resolution Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. at City Hall, when a public meeting on the matter will be held.

The proposal from Price comes on the heels of a request by the four incoming city council members to not cease negotiations on all contracts until the new members are sworn into office.

Price said the incoming council members are asking the sitting councilors to ignore their obligations to the public.

“We were duly elected by voters, just as they have been. We have an obligation to continue doing what we think is best for the city until our terms expire,” he said.

Price said he believes all sitting council members will support the resolution he has proposed.