Oglesby mayor responds to criticism about exploring new form of government

Oglesby Mayor Jason Curran delivered a 9 minute statement Monday in which he acknowledged engaging in conversations about restructuring Oglesby’s commission form of government but pushed back against what he called “gross and obvious” misstatements about the merits of making a change.

Curran was addressing a conversation that took place in the previous Oglesby City Council meeting. A petition circulated to restructure Oglesby government and the Oglesby City Council considered tasking the Planning Commission with studying that proposal. Oglesby has the commission form of government. A commission form of government puts council members in charge of setting policy and overseeing city departments. A city manager form of government tasks an administrator with overseeing city departments and the City Council with setting policy.

Curran said Monday a city manager would not report to the mayor but to the council as a whole. City employees are unionized and their salaries would not be cut with a structural change in government. The city could, he said, afford a six-figure salary and “can’t afford not to.”

“Right now, the city doesn’t have an economic developer, finance director or public works director or anyone who does centralized management,” Curran said. “It’s like we have a city of five separate kingdoms that are just supposed to work together.”

The meeting was recorded and available on YouTube. To hear Curran’s complete statement, cue up to 44 minutes, 42 seconds.