Palmer’s new city manager says his past controversies won’t be a problem here

PALMER — Palmer’s new city manager says he will spend his first few months getting to know the area and working to create a responsible long-term management plan. He said the controversies that led to his resignation from his last two jobs were sparked by extreme budget crises in both places — a problem he said Palmer does not face.

Stephen Jellie was selected by the City Council to replace former manager John Moosey, who retired in June. Gina Davis, the city’s finance director, served as interim manager while the council conducted interviews. Six people applied for the role. Jellie’s first day on the job was Monday, and he plans to fully relocate his family to the city next month, he said in an interview Tuesday.

Jellie comes to Palmer after tumultuous tenures in his two previous roles, where budget cuts he proposed to the regions’ emergency services sparked outcries and ultimately led to his resignations, he said.

Jellie served as fire chief for Teton County and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from late 2022 until early this year. He was placed on administrative leave in early January and submitted his resignation later that month. The county paid him $150,000 in severance, he said.

Before moving to Wyoming, Jellie worked as city manager for Ogdensburg, New York, from July 2020 until late 2022, when he resigned. He received $50,000 in severance and was granted health care through the end of 2023, according to his Ogdensburg buyout agreement. City officials also agreed not to speak negatively about Jellie to future employers, according to the document.

Jellie said the controversial cuts in both Jackson Hole and Ogdensburg were necessary because of overspending and, in Ogdensburg’s case, the city’s near bankruptcy.

In Teton, EMS officials said during public testimony that Jellie’s cuts pushed the organization “toward disaster” and complained that he had an abrasive communication style. In Ogdensburg, a union representing the fire department sued the city for contract violations after several employees were laid off. An arbitrator ultimately ordered the city to pay the firefighters $519,680 in back wages.

Jellie said that while some people in his previous communities disagreed with how he communicated, he believes Alaskans will appreciate his leadership style. He said the cuts to emergency services were a last resort and necessary to solve budget problems in those communities.

“I’m a decisive leader. I don’t let things linger. There’s no such thing as an unsolvable topic for me. We don’t get that choice in government,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “You’ll see pretty quickly, I operate with a high level of integrity, high level of professionalism, but at the end of the day, I’m prepared to do the not-so-pleasant things that these jobs sometimes entail.”

Jellie said he plans to work with the Palmer City Council to develop a strategic, long-term plan that they can build a budget around each year. During his job interview in July, he suggested that Palmer’s police and fire department spending warrants additional scrutiny because it makes up a large percentage of the city’s annual budget.

“Just looking at your budget, one of the things that will concern me is the distribution of your expenditures appears to me to be starting to head toward an area that would be concerning to me,” he said during the interview.

Palmer’s 2024 budget allocates $6.92 million to the city’s police and fire departments, or about 40% of its $17.7 million budget.

The Palmer City Council selected Jellie for the manager position and extended a job offer in July. It unanimously approved his contract earlier this month.

As Palmer’s manager, Jellie will be paid $150,000 a year, plus $15,000 in relocation expenses, according to his contract. He will receive $75,000 in severance pay if he is removed by the City Council for any reason other than a violation of law or failure to perform his duties, according to the contract.

At least some members of the Palmer City Council said this week they were not fully aware of Jellie’s previous resignations before selecting him as manager. They said they were instructed by city human resources officials during the hiring process not to conduct their own background checks on his employment history. It was not immediately clear who conducted the background check or whether it included details about his resignations.

Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington said he spoke with Jellie about his history and said Jellie has been “open and transparent.” He said he hopes Palmer residents will give him a chance.

“I’m not concerned about the past as much as I’m looking toward the future,” he said.

Palmer officials halted an initial manager search in May after a “potential violation” of open meeting rules during private discussions about two finalists for the job, and the search was restarted. Jellie was not included in the first round of manager interviews.

Originally from upstate New York near the Canadian border, Jellie spent the first 25 years of his career working in emergency services for the federal government, including a stint as a U.S. Army civilian employee stationed in Afghanistan, he said. He holds an associate degree in fire protection technology from Corning Community College in New York, according to his resume.

Moving to Alaska has been on Jellie’s mind since his early 20s, when he turned down a job at Fort Richardson because it was too far from home, he said. His wife, Mary Larkin, worked as a seasonal employee at Halibut Cove in 2017 before they were married, and in recent years, he has interviewed for jobs in Unalaska, Petersburg and Cordova, he said. Palmer became a top choice because of its location within the state, he said.

Jellie’s family is also moving with him to Palmer, including Mary and his two sons, Gabriel, 4, and Theodore, 2. He said he plans to rent a furnished home in downtown Palmer while they move their belongings into the state and conduct a thorough house search. Palmer law requires the manager to live within Palmer city limits.

A meet-and-greet with Jellie is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28, at the Palmer train depot.

Republished with permission from the Mat-Su Sentinel, an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan online news source. Contact Amy Bushatz at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.