Belcher’s current contract expires in September 2010. It was renewed by council in September of last year after she was given a two-year contract when she was hired in 2007.

After a closed session in which council members performed a scheduled annual review of Belcher, they voted 3-1 not to extend her contract. Council member Bill Webb made the motion not to extend the contract, and Mark Stoll and Warren Driver each voted in favor of not extending it.

David Quinn was the only dissenting vote. Derek Townsend abstained.

Driver, a former Tomball city manager himself, said he voted the way he did “because of a lot of things that were brought up,” he said, “and things I have personally observed.”

Driver declined to elaborate on his comments, but did say he didn’t think the city should look for another city manager “at this time.”

With two new members elected to the council in May (Townsend and Stoll), Belcher is answering to a much different authority than the one that hired her in 2007.

“Can she meet the expectations of the new council?” Driver said. “If she can, fine. If not, then the contract should dictate what takes place.”

When asked if she was surprised by the council’s vote, Belcher said “yes and no.”

“It surprised me that I didn’t receive an evaluation and the vote came,” she said. “But it didn’t surprise me as far as the outcome. I know that the council sometimes want to change direction and they sometimes want to go in a different direction as far as the goals of the city.”

“I serve at the pleasure of the council, and they give me goals and direction,” Belcher added. “I’ve been following the direction since I came. If they want to give me different direction, I’ll follow whatever direction they want to set. My goal out of all this is that we’re working as a cohesive unit.”

For at least the time being, Belcher will be working for the city with the understanding that she may not have a contract come next fall.

“I can’t worry about that,” Belcher said. “I have to do my job to the best of my ability. I work under a strict code of ethics that requires me to follow council’s direction and the city charter.”

Mayor Gretchen Fagan explained that Belcher’s contract could be re-evaluated at any time in the next year provided it is put on the agenda within the timeframe allowed by law.

Fagan said the council will meet again in executive session in a week to discuss “goals and objectives” for Belcher’s continuing employment with the city.

The mayor praised the job Belcher has done since taking over for Ben Griffin, who resigned from the City Manager position in 2007.

“I think she’s done a great job, absolutely,” Fagan said.

She pointed to the completion of the extensions to Brown and Michel Roads, and drainage improvements on Hicks and Liberty Lanes as projects that have been completed during Belcher’s tenure with the city.

“We’ve seen real progress,” Fagan said.

Stoll, who voted not to renew Belcher’s contract, said he had “some concerns” about her employment with the city.

“I can’t go into all of it right now, but there are some concerns right now that I would like to be able to discuss with her and the rest of the council before we approve an extension,” Stoll said.

 When asked whether there was anything Belcher could do in her job performance to encourage him to change his vote, Stoll declined to comment.

The Tomball City Council will next meet Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.

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