Another Day, Another Power Shuffle on the Taxpayer’s Dime

Let’s not sugarcoat it.

Falmouth, a town of 2,500 people spread across 1.4 square miles on a dry day, just posted a job listing for a City Administrative Officer (CAO).

Sounds simple enough, until you read it. And we did. Twice.

Because buried in the polite government speak is something crystal clear. Falmouth seeks a city Manager, so the Mayor doesn’t have to be one.

They’re trying to hire someone else to do the Mayor’s job, while the Mayor still gets paid.

What the CAO Will Actually Be Doing

This new CAO role? It comes with 26 plus official duties that read like a full municipal workload:

• Run daily operations

• Attend all Council meetings (and then some)

• Write ordinances, manage city staff, handle payroll, field complaints, draft legal documents, chase grants, and oversee city purchasing

• Act as zoning officer, economic development lead, public relations officer, personnel director, record keeper, inventory manager, and policy advisor

Basically, this person will do everything short of waving at traffic and cleaning the gutters.
(And that might be in the fine print.)

But Wait, Isn’t That the Mayor’s Job?

Yes.
Yes it is.
By law.

Under KRS 83A.130, the Mayor in a mayor council government like Falmouth is the chief executive and administrative officer of the city.
It’s their job, by statute, to manage city government.

So why is the city trying to hire someone else to do all of it?

Allegedly, because the Mayor might just want to fill out the smoking circle and hand off the job to someone else to actually run the city while she collects the check and takes the credit.

It’s gotta be something thought about under the influence, right, because it’s more than allegedly the stupidest thing we have heard in a while.

What This CAO Position Really Means

Let’s be real. This CAO position is set up to:

• Take the calls

• Write the reports

• Answer to Council

• Resolve employee issues

• Smooth out public complaints

• Draft the ordinances

• Review the budget

• Coordinate departments

• And be available 24/7 if something breaks

Meanwhile the Mayor?

• Keeps the title

• Keeps the salary

• Keeps the veto

• Keeps the power to fire the CAO “at will” for “good cause”

• And can still blame “staff” when it all goes sideways

It’s a pretty sweet deal, if you’re the one ducking the responsibility.

This Is Not Normal. Not Even Close.

Falmouth is not a metro hub with dozens of departments and a sprawling tax base.

It’s a small, struggling river town where every dollar matters, and trust in local government is already paper thin.

Yet somehow, there’s room in the budget for a full time administrator with a mile long to do list and zero posted salary?

Who’s paying for it?
Where is it in the budget?
Why now?
And why does it read like they already have someone in mind?

This isn’t about improving city efficiency.
It’s about making sure the Mayor doesn’t have to actually be the Mayor.

It’s about farming out the job the voters hired her to do, so she doesn’t have to do it.
And doing it in a way that keeps her in charge, keeps the pay flowing, and keeps a warm body in the hot seat if things go sideways.

The Taxpayers Deserve Better

If the Mayor doesn’t want to do the job she was appointed to do, then she should step aside.

Not subcontract her responsibilities to a hired hand while the rest of us foot the bill.
(Edit. Mayor Hazen was “appointed by the town council”)

This is your city.
This is your money.
This is your call.

And you better believe, we’re watching.

More Staff, More Budget, Less Accountability

Falmouth is a tiny town with an overinflated police budget.

Now apparently the Mayor is so overworked that she needs to waste more money to hire someone to do her job.

Whisper One Out