The action announced by the mayor and Landis Board of Aldermen last week, appointing Roger Hosey as town manager, caught me completely by surprise.

I had hoped the recent settlement reached by the town with Mount Moriah Lutheran Church for land the town had taken to build the park on would be the end of controversies in the town for a while and the citizens could begin to gain some confidence in the leadership. Last week’s announcement and the way it was handled brought new concerns about the mayor and aldermen.

Landis is at a crossroad and needs someone with training and experience as a town manager to take over and get it back on track financially.

When the problem with the town manager and finance manager first came to light, Mayor Mike Mahaley assured everyone that the town would be OK and that he would see to it everything that happened from then on out would be handled properly and with transparency.

Evidently, Mahaley and the town board forgot about the promise of transparency with what happened last week.

Hosey might end up being the right choice for the job, but a review process for applicants would have made his hiring a lot more palatable to the citizens instead of what appears to be a backroom deal.

Lastly, there was Mahaley’s comment that his concerns about all of the new faces that might be coming on board was part of the reason for appointing Hosey as town manager. Appointing someone with no experience to lead the “new faces” does not make any sense. Rather, it shows a desire to try to ensure that the way the town is run does not change.

Hopefully, the “new faces” that Mahaley refers to will bring new ideas and not allow themselves to be swayed into the way things have been handled in the past.

— Jim Brady

China Grove