Instead of a full-blown hiring and spending freeze, the Oak Harbor city council decided Tuesday on a policy designed to put a chill on both spending and new hires.

But at the same meeting, the city administration, staff and some council members showed reluctance in actually making any of the hard cost-cutting decisions. The council narrowly denied a request to hire a senior planner through a headhunter, which at $76,000 a year, probably would have been about the most expensive way to go.

At the March 5 council meeting, Councilman Bob Morrison proposed a spending and hiring freeze for a couple of months in order to give new City Administrator Tom Myers a chance to get a handle on the city’s troubled budget. Because of tax-cutting initiatives, the city is facing a six-digit shortfall next year, which could blossom to seven digits in a few short years.

Tuesday, City Attorney Phil Bleyhl brought back to the council an alternate resolution that requires administration to get council approval before creating any “new salary position” or any changes in pay. It also says departments must get council approval before overspending any budget line; the city administrator must pre-approve any spending in excess of $1,000.

Bleyhl argued that a true spending and hiring freeze would be disastrous. The city, of course, has to spend money to pay bills and make payroll. And he said simply not replacing staff members after they leave would result in “random budget cuts.”

In addition, Bleyhl said a hiring freeze is simply not the answer to the budget crisis.

“A hiring freeze … is like a Band-aid on a gaping wound,” he wrote in the agenda. “Major restructuring needs to take place and that restructuring requires strategic planning.”

The council agreed with Bleyhl’s proposed resolution and passed it unanimously. The resolution will only last for 90 days, but the council asked to have the measure brought back before them for possible extension before it expires.

Then in what Councilman Paul Brewer called an “unbelievable” turn of events, City Development Services Director Steve Powers asked the council to approve a contract with a municipal staffing company for a senior planner at $37 an hour. Powers said he has been unable to find a suitable candidate through the normal hiring process, so he turned to the headhunter.

Councilmember Sheilah Crider immediately made a motion to “disallow” the hire, citing the high cost.

“You should be able to get at least two planners for that amount of money,” she said. She added that the county recently got 27 applicants for a planning position.

“Perhaps we are being too choosey,” she said. Crider is a member of the county’s planning commission.

City Finance Director Doug Merriman said that hiring a planner was “more expensive this way,” but pointed out that the salary will eventually go down somewhat if the person is hired as a regular staff member — as opposed to a contract employee.

The planning department used to consist of a planning director, a senior planner and one plain-old planner. But when the city administration reorganized planning, engineering and building departments into a single development services department, Powers was elevated as director of the new conglomerate department.

The plan was to have two senior planners in the planning department, which is why Powers is looking for someone with a whole lot of municipal planning experience.

Mayor Patty Cohen and three of the council members were in favor of the hire, though they were outvoted in the end. Cohen scolded the council for not going along with the request, saying it was bad for staff morale.

Councilman Richard Davis also said he was disappointed in the council’s 4-3 vote to not allow the $37 an hour hire.

“We’re looking for a professional with 20 years of experience,” Davis said. “To be paying them $4,000 a month is really minimum wage.”

Crider and Brewer strongly disagreed. Crider said the salary was way overboard.

In a recent interview, Brewer said the creation of a single development services department was supposed to decrease the number and cost of employees. The proposed hire and the increase in the number of senior planners, he said, would negate that.

Brewer said Powers simply needs to make do with a less expensive, less qualified “junior planner.”

“Why did we hire Steve Powers if he doesn’t have enough expertise to train a junior planner?” Brewer said. “The employees have to tighten their belts and do more with less.”

Yet Powers may have a second chance to hire a senior planner through the consulting firm. The council also voted to bring the matter back at the next meeting.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.