Working through Crisis

Since August, it has been fair to say that Hyattsville has been working through a crisis. I know not everyone agrees on what a resolution will look like. In the past 3 months, staff and council have been reviewing more and more available information and have begun a process to revamp policy and procedure and work toward financial stability and trust in leadership.

In the early fallout of the financial restatement, it was not only made clear, but also became emergent that we needed a quick resolution to our financial management. As council is not responsible for hiring or firing staff, the city administrator worked on the process of accepting the former Treasurer’s resignation and the transition of those duties. The council had already made steps for future change in financial leadership, mostly by creating the position of the Deputy Finance Director. Because of this, we had the stability needed to continue essential city operations during the Treasurer’s resignation. Through the transition, the focus was on continued stable operation and making sure that staff were ready for taking on the necessary duties. Now, with the hiring of a contract Finance Director for the interim before hiring a new treasurer, the staff is working on clarifying processes and financial policy, implementing some of the recommendations from the Audit Committee.

More recently, there are those who are looking for more leadership change. Some have called for the firing of the city administrator. While the city administrator has to share in the responsibility for the confusion and chaos of the misleading financial statements and the timing of reports, it does not follow that the only solution is to introduce more chaos by vacating the top-most position managing the city staff and operations. The process for hiring the city administrator, planning a transition, and setting up the new leader for success is a several-month-long process. As the current city administrator is already planning to retire at the end of June, some councilmembers have worked many hours getting an RFP for an executive search firm to assist in a national search for the best new leader for Hyattsville. Part of the council’s responsibility is setting up the city for success in this search and transition. It is incumbent upon us to not make hasty decisions without verified information and without a plan. Stability and long-term success should be the priority. Council will continue to work on the policies that the city needs to make sure that we do not find ourselves in this situation, yet again.

In fact, we are strangely in a similar situation as to where we were 13 years ago. At that time, the firing of the treasurer and resignation of the city administrator, while being years behind on audits precipitated a huge change in leadership and even our form of government. Big changes may satisfy as “doing something,” but without careful reflection, do not always solve the probelm, especially in the long term. We need to put the hard-won lesson learned from that experience and this into practice by taking time to make corrections and not just changes. This is a process that requires careful deliberation so we can make things better for the long-haul.