Dear Editor:
This letter is just to make a few comments about the recent firing of the Meeker City Manager by the town board on August 25th as reported in the newspaper on September 2.
First I would like to commend Dickie Walton for his nearly four years of public service to the town of Meeker. I believe he was definitely dedicated to making the town a better place for people to live, and he was always busy trying get grants and find other sources of income with which to improve the community. He also made it a priority as city manager to keep everyone informed as to what was happening with town projects through his weekly newspaper column labeled Updates From Meeker City Hall.
I’m sure that during his tenure as manager he didn’t make everyone happy, but what city manager does if they’re doing their job. You know there’s an old saying that goes like this: You can please some of the people all of the time and all the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time. Such is the case for being a city manager. Most of the time it is a thankless job and getting fired is an occupational hazard for this position. The most common reason for being fired is usually due to changes in the elected body that hired the administrator in the first place, but there is also political pressure and personality conflicts that might lead to dismissal. When you don’t get a reason for being fired this could be the case.
Nationwide, when it comes to longevity, the turnover rate for town administrators is very high. Currently the average tenure for a city manager throughout the country is about 7 years, but in small towns like Meeker and with the turnovers that we’ve had in that position, it appears to be even less.
In conclusion, I just hope the town board finds that special person that can please all the people all of the time, but I doubt that will ever happen. As for former administrator Dickie Walton I quote these lyrics from a song titled Garden Party by Rick Nelson, which he can take to heart.
But it’s all right now
I learned my lesson well
You see you can’t please everyone,
So you got to please yourself.
Al Ward, Meeker