07/17/2019- It’s been five months since Marinette’s City Attorney officially retired and the City has yet to find a successor. Attorney Jon Sbar agreed to stay on at an hourly rate following his February 7th retirement after Marinette’s attempt to find a replacement proved unsuccessful. The City’s Personnel and License Committee revisited the topic Tuesday, agreeing the sooner they determine what their strategy is, the more successful they’re likely to be in hiring a new attorney. While some suggested Marinette might consider making the position part-time or permanently contractual, Alderperson Jeff Skorik says he feels the duties of the role require a full-time employee.
The agreement between Marinette and Sbar comes with a one year-term and Sbar doesn’t anticipate terminating the contract early, but says if he does decide to step down before February of 2020, he’ll give the city as much advance notice as possible.
The Personnel and Labor Committee briefly discussed seeking entry-level applicants in their next round of postings for the City Attorney position to try to broaden their candidate pool. The Committee will take up the issue again at their meeting in August.