Waterloo Human Resources Director Relieved of Duties

The city of Waterloo, Iowa is without a human resource director. Mayor Buck Clark released Bob Stringer from his position on Tuesday as part of ongoing efforts to streamline the administration of the city and save money.

“The point and the reason and the cause for me relieving Bob of his duties was strictly financial,” Clark said. “Bob’s a good guy, and it was a hard decision for me to make. I hate laying people off.”

Stringer was hired as the human resources director for Waterloo back in March of 2005. He was hired to replace June Watkins, who left to take a similar position at the Black Hawk County Courthouse. Former Mayor Tim Hurley hired Stringer, a native of Joplin, Missouri.

Mayor Clark said no replacement will be hired for the position, instead distributing the human resources duties to members currently on the staff.

“It’s an incredibly difficult decision to do things like I did with Bob, but it’s a commitment I’ve made to reorganize the administration of Waterloo,” he said. “We’re trying to reduce our top heaviness, to reduce the number of employees in the city.”

Fire Chief Doug Carter was recently demoted to a captain’s post on December 3, 2010, which eventually created a new position of director of safety services. The position was then filed by Police Chief Dan Trelka. This position change resulted in the removal of one city position.

Later in his mayoral term, Clark decided not to replace the city’s retiring Street Department Superintendent, Steve Decker. Instead, Clark combined the duties the central garage under a new public works director position, which was filled by Mark Rice.

Clark also fired the city’s Building Official Debra Anderson on November 14, 2010. Clark eventually filled her position later on. It was reported that the city council was aware of Clark’s decision to remove Stringer from the city payroll. Clark was making around $88,000 per year.

The timing of the move is explained by the city expecting more difficulty setting the budget for the next fiscal year, according to Clark.

“Budgets are at the top of mind right now,” he said. “This was a move I had decided I was going to make.”