Martin Granum
The Red Bank Commissioners discussed and approved the contract with Martin Granum, as the new city manager at the commission meeting Tuesday night.
City Attorney Arnold Stulce, who led the negotiations with Mr. Granum, along with Mayor Hollie Berry, told the commissioners that they found him very good to work with and enthusiastic about coming to Red Bank.
He will be moving from the Portland, Oregon area where he has been the facilities and parks services manager with Washington County outside of Portland. He is scheduled to start work at Red Bank on Oct. 11. During the negotiations some requests were pared down, said Mr. Stulce, and a contract that he believes is fair for the city and the city manager was drawn up which he expected to be agreeable to the commission.
The commissioners did agree to the contract after clarification of several items and one amendment. Before the vote, Commissioners Pete Phillips and Ruth Jeno asked Attorney Stulce to verify that Mr. Granum will work for five commissioners and that no single or no combination of two or three commissioners can interfere with the city manager’s duties or ask for favors such as changing set-backs or waiving inspections. Any changes of the city manager’s duties or responsibilities have to be done in a public meeting with a vote, said the attorney.
Commissioner Jeno also questioned the requirement that the city manager must live in Red Bank within six months of starting. That is constraining, she said, because with the condition of the market now, it might take longer. She also requested a change to the vehicle allowance in the original version of the contract. The amended contract that was approved unanimously includes the city manager’s salary of $110,000 with a vehicle allowance of $600 monthly plus the cost per mile for any business destination beyond 50 miles from Red Bank.The revised contract was passed unanimously with the understanding that Mr. Granum is OK with the milage change from 10 miles to 50.
The commissioners had previously agreed to offer him the position during a special called meeting on Aug. 25.
Mr. Granum is a graduate of Portland Public Schools. He joined the Air Force at age 18 and served as a civil engineer all over the world for the next 24 years, living in numerous states including Colorado, Texas, Georgia, Virginia and Hawaii, and multiple overseas assignments including Portugal, Egypt, Japan and Iraq. In 2005, he and his family settled near Hillsboro, Oregon where his three children attended Hillsboro schools.
Becoming involved with the school district, Mr. Granum started his daughter’s parent-teacher club and volunteered to help pass the 2006 capital bond ($169 million) that constructed multiple new schools. He remained engaged with Hillsboro schools, including the 2006 capital bond Construction Oversight Committee, the Citizens Curriculum Advisory Committee, the Budget Committee, and the 2017 Capital Bond Committee. Mr. Granum was elected to the Hillsboro School District Board of Directors, serving from July 2017 through June 2021. Passage of HSD’s historic $408 million capital construction bond in 2017 is a highlight for Mr. Granum, enabling the upgrade of every school in the district and adding two new schools for needed capacity.
Mr. Granum has been the past president of the Aloha Community Library Association, volunteered with the Family Promise homeless shelter, served on the Washington County Urban Road Maintenance District Advisory Committee, and is past president of his church congregation. He coached 24 seasons of youth sports and volunteered in numerous other ways.
“I am thrilled and honored for Mr. Martin Granum to be joining ‘Team Red Bank’ as our next city manager,” said Mayor Berry. “Mr. Granum stood out among a highly competitive field of qualified candidates from across the nation. I believe Mr. Granum is both a natural fit for our community and uniquely suited for the challenging and rewarding work of serving as a city manager.”
Mr. Granum’s wife, Annette, is from Maryville, Tn. They have three grown children and three grandchildren. Mr. Granum holds a master’s degree in public administration, a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and is currently the Facilities & Parks Services manager with Washington County (Oregon). He completed the Chattanooga Ironman in 2019 and is a frequent bike commuter who loves swimming, running, hiking and camping.
Commissioner Jeno had also requested an item for discussion on the agenda about increasing pay for part-time firefighters. In the past, that compensation has been $13 per hour. “They do the same job as starting full-time firefighters,” said Interim City Manager John Alexander. The commissioners voted to increase their pay to $13.67 hourly to match the starting full-time fire fighters. “That’s why we increased property taxes,” said Commissioner Phillips.
The police department will be getting several new vehicles. The purchase of three Ford Interceptors and one Ford Explorer was approved for the amount of $128,341, which was a budgeted item. The purchase of a brush truck was also approved for use by the public works department. Tim Thornbury, the previous city manager, had been saving money to purchase this truck when the funds were diverted to buy a vehicle for curbside recycling, said Commissioner Jeno. After that program was eliminated from the 2021 budget, the money became available again for the original intended purpose. The approved purchase price is $173,005.
Another item in the budget is playground equipment that will be installed outside the community center. The city received nine bids, ranging from $44,000 to $64,000. The lowest did not meet the city’s specifications, said Public Works Director Greg Tate. The bid that was approved is $48,215 from Firefly Recreation. The city received a grant from the Red Bank and Soddy Daisy Charitable Foundation for $22,500 that will be used toward this purchase. A pavilion at the park will be constructed at the same time as the playground while grading and site preparation is being done for both.
The time and place for the Red Bank Commission meetings was formally amended with an ordinance on Tuesday night. In the last couple of years, a new city hall has been built. The commission meetings will continue to be held in the same location they traditionally have been held, but that building is now known as the police services station. The ordinance regarding time and place of regular meetings was amended to reflect the name change of the building as well as changing the time for the meetings from 7 p.m. to 6 p.m.