Kansas job try could sour Taylor's future in Eugene.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Eugene City Manager Dennis Taylor says that he's interested in a job in Lawrence, Kan., but that he's not actively seeking employment elsewhere.

"I'm not applying willy-nilly for city managers' jobs across the country," he said.

But, while explaining his interest in the Kansas job, Taylor also leveled a barrage of criticism at his bosses, the Eugene City Council. His blunt comments have left observers wondering if Taylor's unhappiness, even if it later subsides, will affect his relationship with city councilors, and whether it has made him a lame duck manager in the eyes of some city employees.

"If he doesn't go, he might have painted himself into a short-timer's box, where he would not want to go," said Dal Ollek, president of the largest city union, American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees, Local 1724.

Taylor is a finalist for the city manager's job in Lawrence, Kan., where the city commission is expected to hire a new city manager in the next week or so.

Taylor said he became unhappy with the Eugene council after it disregarded his advice and that of the city attorney by declaring that the new police auditor - not Taylor - has ultimate authority over her yet-to-be hired staff. A Portland attorney hired by the city also backed city attorney Glenn Klein's opinion.

Taylor questioned the City Council's commitment to the city charter and the city manager form of government. "For me it remains an issue about respect for the law and for the charter," he said.

Taylor revealed that he also had applied for a city manager job in a Seattle area city, but provided no other details.

Will he continue to apply for jobs elsewhere?

"I don't know that," Taylor said. "I have lost my appetite for the stress of applying for city manager's jobs."

University of Oregon business professor James Terborg said Taylor "may have some backing up to do" to improve relations with the council.

People look for jobs all the time, Terborg said, and Taylor did not deceive any councilors.

"I don't really see this as being irreparable, but it probably does require some frank discussions between the city manager and the City Council," he said.

City councilors and Mayor Kitty Piercy had differing views on whether Taylor's interest in other employment and his comments will sour his relationship with them if he stays in Eugene.

"The fact that Dennis is interested in another job will obviously incorporate some tension and some questions as to the organization's long-term direction," Councilor David Kelly said. "But that is a tension that we have to be prepared to deal with."

Taylor's comments are a very serious accusation, "untrue and can't help but put a serious strain on relationships," Kelly said.

City Councilor Bonny Bettman said she was not surprised to learn that Taylor had applied for another job.

Bettman said city government has stumbled several times during Taylor's tenure. The city razed the former Sears building, leaving a pit in its place, before the property sale was complete, Bettman said.

And city officials initially wanted the council to approve the proposed Whole Foods Market and public garage development in downtown Eugene without a required public hearing, she said.

"Even the right wing of the council would not go for that," Bettman said.

But Piercy said she hasn't heard anything to indicate that Taylor has lost the support of the council majority, which would put his job in jeopardy. Taylor remains "our employee and I will work hard with him in the best interest of the community," she said.

Ollek, whose union represents 700 city employees, said labor-management relations have eroded during Taylor's three-plus years at the helm.

Under Taylor's "penny pinching" directives, union and city bargainers spent eight months haggling over the last labor contract, approved in 2004, Ollek said.

"A new city manager could bring a new approach," he said. "We could be a lot more engaged in discussions about workplace efficiency and service delivery."

But others support Taylor, including the Eugene Police Employee's Association, which wanted the auditor to be under the city manager's direction.

"We would like him to stay," union President Willy Edewaard said. "Our department is functioning very smoothly."

Edewaard attributes much of that to Taylor's policy of letting Police Chief Robert Lehner run the department.

"Our concern is that if someone new comes in as city manager and starts micromanaging the police department, then we have got issues," Edewaard said.

Police Commission member and former City Councilor Tim Laue called Taylor "an excellent city manager and quintessential public servant."

Laue said he didn't think Taylor would be considered a lame duck by city department heads if he remained in Eugene.

And Laue said he didn't think there is an irreparable rift between Taylor and the council majority.

"I don't expect it will change Dennis' relationship with the council, and my read of it is that the majority of the council would be happy if he stayed," he said.

Wayne Eastburn / The Register-Guard

CAPTION(S):

City Manager Dennis Taylor, a finalist for a job in Kansas, confers with others before Monday night's City Council meeting.