Parks chief doubts city can afford manager

Having a city manager would be a good thing for the city of Havre, but the biggest question is: Can the already cash-strapped city afford one?

That is the question Parks and Recreation Director Chris Inman raised Monday night.

Inman was the latest department manager to be interviewed by the Study Commission, the three-member panel reviewing the way the city government operates.

The commission can recommend a wide variety of changes in the form of city government, but a city manager and a city charter are the two that are drawing the most interest.

Department heads now report to the mayor, which is a part-time position.

“We ask an awful lot of our part-time mayor,” Inman said.

“But I don’t know where the money would come from,” she said. “We are taxed out, levied out.”

To speed up the process, commission members are meeting again next week, instead of waiting until next month, to interview a representative of the Havre Police Department.

Commission members are hoping to complete department head interviews shortly and move ahead to meeting with the public to get its opinions on what if any changes should be made.

On other topics, Inman said she thought city departments worked well together. Her department and other departments share equipment and staffers when needed.

She said she thought her department does a good job of running the parks, the swimming pool and other city operations.

“Of course we could always use more people,” she said, although she understood the city was up against its taxing authority.

On a lighter note, she said she found it hard to answer the commission’s questions on converting to a charter form of government.

“All I really know about the charter is what I read on Wikipedia,” she said.