City Manager Mike West gets 3-year contract extension

The Dothan City Commission voted 5-2 on Tuesday to extend City Manager Mike West’s contract another three years.

District 1 Commissioner James Reading and District 2 Commissioner Amos Newsome voted against renewing the contract after Reading’s motion to table the decision for 90 days failed.

The new contract begins Wednesday and lasts through Feb. 21, 2015.

West will be paid an annual salary of $165,589 and furnished a vehicle by the city.

Additionally, West’s salary and benefits will be paid for a period of nine months if he’s terminated before the end of the contract.

Reading said he had some small issues with the contract that could have been ironed out if granted the 90-day period he requested.

“I had some concerns about (salary, general provisions and transportation),” he said. “A lot of them are minor. That’s tweaking it, and that’s why I wanted to table it for 90 days and go over these concerns.”

The bigger issue, Reading said, was West overlooking problems in District 1.

“I can work with anybody, but nobody has the right to determine what’s important to the people I represent,” Reading said. “The people I represent are poor. Their issues are not going to be the same issues that people who live in west Dothan or north Dothan have. Things that are important to the people I represent are falling on deaf ears. They haven’t been taken care of.”

West denied Reading’s claims, but said he understands criticism comes with the job description.

“I would disagree with that. I don’t want to debate the commissioner, but one of the things we try to do as a staff is make sure we help all neighborhoods regardless of where they’re located,” West said. “If you look at what we’ve done, the projects we’ve accomplished, you’ll see work’s been done everywhere. The last three years, we’ve been through some economic turbulence and haven’t spent a lot of money on a lot of things. There are things all seven would like done in the community, and because of resource limitations we don’t always get to those in a timely manner. In my profession you work for seven individuals, and some of those individuals have different thoughts about how we do.”

Mayor Mike Schmitz praised West’s performance and called the city “lucky to have him.”

“During difficult times he did an incredible job, allowed us to balance our budget and reinvest millions of dollars back into our community,” Schmitz said. “Going forward we still have the (Environmental Protection Agency) lawsuit, the landfill issue and water issues. I just appreciate having a professional city manager, and I’m proud he’s willing to work with us. Having someone stable with the knowledge he has of our city, having been here eight years, it shows when we do economic development. Stability adds to our sales (pitch) for creating new jobs.”

West said the decision was a relief, even though he was confident about the commission’s decision heading in.

“I’m honored they chose me to continue my position as city manager,” he said. “I’m grateful for the support from the community, the commission and our staff. I feel I’ve done a good job for Dothan. Dothan has prospered and accomplished a lot in a down economy. The biggest accomplishment is we’ve been able navigate three years of a downturned economy without laying anyone off. The (second biggest) accomplishment is we’ve been able to keep the strategic planning process going. Commissioners are working together to develop goals and objectives to lead this community forward.”

Reading said he’ll have no problem working with West moving forward, despite the vote.

“We had the debate, I lost and that’s the American way,” he said. “That’s the life of politics, debate. Anytime you debate or discuss a problem, the end product is always going to be better. That’s behind us, and I’m going to work with him and support him. I just wanted my viewpoint heard.”