Mayor Seeks Support For Administrator In /Around: Cheney

Cheney Mayor Amy Jo Sooy said her top choice for city administrator doesn’t live in the city and should not be forced to move.

Sooy said this week she wants to promote interim Administrator Bob Hudson to the city’s top appointment. Hudson has worked for Cheney since 1975, most recently as director of parks.

Hudson has been handling both jobs since former City Administrator Jim Reinbold resigned last June.

Sooy needs the confirmation of the City Council to get Hudson promoted, she said.

“He is my choice,” the mayor said.

Last month, the City Council rejected a request by Sooy to waive a requirement that the city administrator live inside the city limits.

The council also passed a motion telling Sooy to begin a search for Reinbold’s replacement.

Hudson could be promoted to administrator - and not be required to live inside the city - because he was hired two years before the city adopted its residency requirement for city administrator, Sooy said.

Thus the so-called “grandfather clause” applies to Hudson in the current consideration of a new administrator, she said.

Hudson lives on a rural parcel about five miles outside the city and keeps horses there. Sooy said he doesn’t want to be forced to move and change his lifestyle to accept the administrator’s job.

Sooy said she intends to seek the approval of the City Council for her choice of Hudson and needs at least four of the seven council members to concur.

She plans to convene a closed-door executive session next Tuesday to talk about Hudson’s qualifications for the job.

“I do want to get the issue resolved,” she said.