Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990 TAG: 9004120393
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
There are outward signs: For one thing, Mayor Benny Keister used to take charge of council meetings single-handedly. Now, he routinely defers to Elander to flesh out details on issues facing the town.
For another, the "council chamber" - a plain paneled room in one corner of the town office building - has been completely rearranged. The new look was Elander's idea.
Where council members used to huddle around a single, large table in one corner of the room, they now sit along one side of a bank of three mismatched tables facing an audience that's seated on folding chairs.
Elander announced at the March meeting that council would start meeting later this spring at the new Dublin branch of the Pulaski County Library. The grand opening of the just-completed library branch on Giles Avenue is set for April 22.
There's also a more business-like atmosphere during council's monthly meetings, with members now less likely to show up wearing blue jeans and more likely to sport a dress shirt and tie, possibly pacing Elander who usually wears a dark suit.
There's also less of the casual banter that once went on during council meetings among council members, the public, and even reporters, partly because there's less time these days for idle chatter.
During Elander's brief tenure, the council agenda has expanded to include initiatives toward computerization of the town offices to increase staff productivity, to the recently announced effort to purchase the vacant former Burlington Industries plant in Newbern and turn it into what Elander calls an "industrial incubator facility."
At Elander's suggestion, council members now get a complete financial statement each meeting that shows how much money is left in each of the town's accounts and how revenues are faring. Previously, council members conducted financial transactions during meetings without having up-to-date information on the town's various accounts.
He has also pledged to take action to collect on delinquent taxes owed the town. Elander once served as Roanoke's chief of billings and collections.
The new manager-consultant also will be involved later this spring in preparing Dublin's $1.3-million annual budget.
Since arriving as Dublin's administrator, Elander also has taken over day-to-day management of the town office staff, a job Keister used to handle at the end of his regular workday as a high school counselor in Shawsville.
Elander also has assumed two new hats. At council's March 15 meeting, he was appointed to be the town's representative on the New River Resource Authority, replacing former Mayor Julian McMillan, who resigned from the NRRA board last month. Elander also was named the town's new zoning officer.
All told, Elander's part-time job seems to be approaching a full-time schedule. The town's agreement with Elander called for a 20-hour week "to start with," Keister said. Elander receives $1,500 a month for his services, plus $18 per hour for all hours beyond 25 hours a week.
The town also pays for Elander's family-plan health and hospitalization insurance, plus an allowance for mileage and expenses.
by CNB