By Katie Northcott, News Director
In a contentious meeting of the Manchester Water and Sewer Commission (WSC) on Thursday, Jan. 8, commission chairman Mike Anderson said that the Manchester Board of Mayor and Alderman (BOMA) had circumvented the commission in its appointment of Lonnie Foley as Director of the Water and Sewer Department.
Foley’s appointment was originally discussed at the December BOMA meeting alongside the potential appointment of Adam Floied to Chief of Police. Neither appointment was on the agenda. BOMA officially appointed Floied and Foley at its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
“I’m deeply disappointed in BOMA’s actions Tuesday,” Anderson said. “After I informed all of our aldermen and the mayor of our city code regarding appointment of Water and Sewer Director, they unilaterally appointed Lonnie without input from this commission.”
He said BOMA only had the authority to say “yes” or “no” to the WSC’s recommendations, not to appoint a director itself. On those grounds, Anderson said he declared Foley’s appointment null and void. He said Foley should continue as Interim Director.
On Dec. 18, Anderson sent an email to Alderman Donnie Parsley asking that BOMA post the position, take applications, and conduct interviews. Anderson said WSC members should be present at the interviews.
The main text of the email is copied below.
At the December meeting, BOMA considered making the Interim Director the Director, but this was postponed until your January 2026 meeting. I strongly advise against doing that. We should follow the standard legal procedure.
It is time to post the position, take applications, and conduct interviews. Applicant interviews should be conducted by the Mayor and a member of the W&S Commission along with other interested people. We can then hire the best applicant as Director. I would like to point out that the Manchester Municipal Code, Chapter 5, paragraph 2-501 states “The commission, with the approval of the board of mayor and aldermen, shall designate a manager of the water and sewer department. He shall have the duties of general supervision and operations. (1972 Code. Subsection 13-101).” Thus, interviews are done jointly since both the Commission and BOMA have a say.
At its meeting on Jan. 6, BOMA moved forward with its appointment of Foley, voting 5-0-1 (Alderman Julie Anderson absent; Mayor Joey Hobbs not voting).
Hobbs and Alderman Thomas Crosslin argued that Anderson was using an outdated version of the Manchester Municipal Code and that the Water and Sewer Director works at the will of BOMA. They pointed out that the code used the word “manager” instead of “director.”
The meeting was briefly interrupted by a member of the audience, Sarah Bradley.
“Oh my god, are you kidding me?” Bradley said. “Do one thing right. Get one thing right.”
Despite her protests that she wouldn’t say anything out, she was escorted out by police at the direction of Hobbs.
Hobbs then turned his attention back to Anderson.
“There’s lots of things in the [water and sewer code] that this commission’s not doing,” Hobbs said. “You can’t pick and choose which ones you’re going to follow.”
Find the Manchester Municipal Code here. According to the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS), the code was last updated on Aug. 6, 2024. A copy of the section on Boards and Commissions is attached below. The code reads as Anderson phrased it in his email.
When Hobbs and Anderson continued to disagree about the code, Anderson asked why Manchester had a commission if not to make recommendations.
“Why do you have this commission?” Anderson said.
“That’s probably a good question just to be perfectly honest,” Hobbs replied. “How many years have you served on this commission?”
“14 years,” Anderson said.
“14 years, right. And what shape is our sewer system in?” Hobbs said. “What have you brought to the table to change how we do business in the sewer system?”
“… We have been struggling for a long time to improve our sewers, and we’re going keep doing it,” Anderson said. “We’ve got a lot to do.”
Hobbs then went back to the word “manager” in the section of the code quoted by Anderson, arguing that it referred to an operations manager, not the director.
“Lonnie is the director,” Hobbs said.
City Attorney Craig Johnson was then allowed to speak.
He said that according to Code 4-209 the mayor has authority to make emergency appointments, as was the case with Foley. At the will of BOMA, the emergency appointment may be extended. Johnson said that BOMA just extended the time of the emergency appointment to being permanent.
He said that there was no vacancy to post since the mayor had filled the director position with Foley, so the city is not in violation of Code 4-204, which requires the city to post any vacancy. He also said that according to Code 4-210, the city should look to promote within the department.
“There was no vacancy,” Johnson said. “The mayor appointed the interim director. BOMA extended that appointment and put no end date on it.”
When pressed by Anderson, Johnson said that this was his legal opinion, not a fact. Other lawyers might have a different opinion. However, he said there was precedence in other departments to promote this way.
Anderson did have a different opinion. He said that the Water and Sewer Department had a commission specifically for making recommendations of this nature. Earlier, he had addressed Hobbs.
“You are using the opportunity, which you have, to legally appoint an interim. You did that. Then, you don’t want to post the job,” Anderson said. “You have an interim; you don’t have a director. You’re trying to circumvent the input of this commission.”
Another reading of the code would indicate that BOMA failed to post the Director position when it became vacant after former Water and Sewer Director Jeff Perry resigned in September. Instead of an emergency appointment, which is not to exceed 30 days according to Code 4-209, Foley would seem to have been given an informal promotion.
Promotions may be made at the mayor and department head’s discretion. According to Code 4-210, “promotions shall be on a competitive basis and shall give appropriate consideration to the applicant’s performance, qualifications and seniority.”
The term “applicant” seems to imply that a candidate, whether a current employee or not, should have to apply for the position for which they are being considered. BOMA has not indicated that Foley applied for the director position or that city officials have taken measures to review his performance and qualifications.
“Competitive basis” seems to imply that others should be given the chance to apply for the promotion as well. It appears no other employees were considered or given the chance to apply for this position.
In this light, it appears that BOMA failed to facilitate a legal hiring process for a new Water and Sewer Director. With two differing opinions on the code, Johnson is the authority on this matter as city attorney. A court is the only authority that could overrule Johnson. Foley’s appointment stands.
The section of the Manchester Municipal Code concerning municipal personnel is copied below.
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