Harper Woods council confirms finance leadership promotions and employment contracts

Harper Woods — The City Council confirmed the city manager’s appointments to senior finance roles and approved individual employment contracts for several staff as part of succession planning.

The council voted to confirm Maria Naraki as Finance Director, Cedric Robinson as Deputy Finance Director and Kimberly (Kim) Keogh as City Treasurer, and to approve an appointment of Margo Jackson as Water Billing Manager (the water-billing role follows a collective-bargaining agreement and does not require a separate employment contract).

City Manager John Szymanski presented the slate as necessary succession planning, noting the roles’ duties have expanded and that the appointments will be followed by specialized training. Council members raised questions about compensation benchmarks and whether the charter-required title of treasurer accurately reflects the breadth of duties. One council member suggested the title “Treasury Management Officer” would be more consistent with comparable compensation in other Michigan cities; others noted the city charter requires particular titles.

Council also discussed retention pressures for experienced municipal staff. Szymanski said the administration will work with Plant Moran (contracted finance specialists referenced during the audit) on training and to develop year-round finance checklists and timelines to ensure compliance with audit requirements.

By roll call vote the council approved the employment contracts and promotions. Council asked staff to present training plans and any charter- or title-related constraints if changes to titles or compensation are proposed in the future.