In Alver, north of Bergen, there has been a storm around municipal director Ørjan Raknes Forthun for a long time. But now news can tell that a political majority in the municipal council no longer has confidence in their top bureaucrat. And that mayor Sara Sekkingstad (Sp) has nevertheless offered Forthun salary week. This is clear from an e-mail the mayor has sent to the other two members of the negotiation committee in the municipality. Dispute over teachers Like most other Norwegian municipalities, Alver has two top managers: The mayor is the leading politician, while the municipal director is the leading bureaucrat. As municipal director, Forthun has the highest administrative responsibility for resolving all political matters and for implementing the decisions made by local politicians. He also has personnel responsibility for all municipal employees. The municipal director himself is appointed by the municipal council. The fact that he no longer has the trust of the politicians is linked to how Alver municipality reacted when two teachers were blamed for offending pupils. Both believe they are treated unfairly by the municipality. One teacher entered into a termination agreement and the other changed schools. An independent investigation concluded before Christmas with extensive criticism of the municipal management’s handling of the case, even though the investigators believe the final agreement was legal. “The teacher’s case” has been much discussed in the local newspapers Strilen and Nordhordland in recent years. – He must be fired Group leader for Høgre, the largest opposition party in the municipality, Ingrid Duesund Fjeldsbø, calls the teacher’s case “a terribly tragic case”. – I think that the municipal director should evaluate his position, she says to news. Morten Klementsen (People’s Party) believes that the municipal director must resign or be dismissed, and criticizes that he was offered a pay week. Photo: Leif Rune Løland / news Group leader Morten Klementsen in the People’s Party (formerly FNB) sits on the negotiating committee together with the mayor and deputy mayor. According to him, the group leaders in most political parties have been trying for several months to get Forthun to quit. – I sit in group leader meetings again and again and try to finalize the agreement I have with the municipal director. He claims that the municipal director is not interested in reaching an agreement. – I have to say that I feel sorry for the mayor, that she doesn’t get an answer from the municipal director. We are in a vacuum, and if we do not come to an agreement, then it is clear that he will have to be fired, says Klementsen to news. He says that other criticisms of the municipal director relate to a lack of follow-up of political decisions and a lack of information back to the municipal council. The mayor: “The municipal board has no confidence” Instead of Forthun quitting, he may even get a pay rise. In a development meeting with the negotiating committee this month, the mayor and deputy mayor gave Forthun a salary offer in line with what other municipal employees had received. Neither the municipal director nor the mayor will be available for an interview. “It is out of the question for me as mayor to appear in an interview and/or comment on matters concerning the municipality as an employer and the municipal director as an employee,” Sekkingstad wrote to news. Forthun writes that he discusses his working relationship with the mayor who represents Alver municipality as employer. news has seen the e-mail in which Sekkingstad confirms in writing the political lack of trust. In a closed board meeting on 10 February, she is said to have read out the e-mail she had sent to the deputy mayor and Klementsen. It said: “Mayors have conveyed to the municipal director that the municipal council has no confidence in the municipal director.” In the same email, she confirmed the salary offer that she and the deputy mayor had made: “The municipal director accepted the offer of 2.95 per cent without negotiation,” she wrote. Mayor Sara Sekkingstad has given the municipal director a pay week and at the same time he says that he lacks the trust of the municipal council. Photo: Senterpartiet – There must be consequences Even if Sekkingstad does not want to be interviewed now, news spoke to her the day after the chairmanship meeting. – There are challenges regarding the relationship between politics and administration that we are working on, she stated. She told news that the group leaders of almost all the parties in the municipal council have said that mistakes have been made in the teachers’ case, and that there must be consequences. When asked about the salary offer to Forthun, Sekkingstad replied that the protocol from the salary negotiation will be public when it is written. Crisis of confidence On Thursday, the municipal council will consider the investigation report on the teacher’s case. It is an open question what that will mean for the position of the supreme commander of all Elves. Klementsen in the People’s Party believes that the conclusion is simple. – I cannot see that a municipal director can remain in office when he does not have the trust of us elected officials. Then I have a crisis of confidence that I cannot live with. After news reported this case on the radio on Wednesday, the local newspaper Strilen states that the municipal director may be close to a motion of no confidence, but that most of the parties today have not responded or will comment on it. Nordhordland writes that Klementsen announces a motion of no confidence at the meeting tomorrow.
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The municipal director lacks the politicians’ trust, but the mayor gave him a pay rise – news Vestland
