POCATELLO — Mayor-elect Mark Dahlquist asked Mayor Brian Blad and some of the City Council to wait until he takes office to hire a new chief financial officer. They didn’t.

The clash over timing highlights tensions in the transition of power as Dahlquist prepares to take the reins from Blad on Jan. 8.

In a Facebook post published a day after the Dec. 4 City Council meeting, Dahlquist said he had contacted Blad and several council members to request postponing the CFO hire, arguing that he and two new council members should participate in a decision that would “directly shape our administration.”

“Mayor Blad and the current council chose to proceed with the hire regardless,” Dahlquist wrote in the Facebook post. “While I disagree with the timing, they retain full authority until Jan. 8, and the decision was theirs to make. I would like to judge the CFO on his merits once I am in the position to do so.”

The City Council voted to confirm Rich Morgan as CFO after the position had been vacant for six months.

City Council member Dakota Bates said he previously spoke to Dahlquist about the CFO hiring before the Dec. 4 meeting.

“Mark wasn’t so much worried about getting to have his say in the decision,” Bates said. “We both were concerned, if Rich Morgan gets appointed by Blad right here, near the end of Blad’s term, what will be the public perception of Rich and will the general public trust that Rich is competent and capable and doing a good job as CFO?”

Bates said he expressed to Dahlquist that he felt Morgan was a qualified, competent and capable candidate, mentioning the city had been without a CFO for six months. For Bates, his confirmation vote boiled down to the fact that he reached out to Chubbuck Mayor-elect Rodney Burch and heard nothing but positive things about Morgan.

In a recent interview with the Idaho State Journal, Dahlquist said it’s his managerial philosophy that those significantly impacted by a decision — in this case the hiring of the CFO — should be brought to the table.

“At NeighborWorks when I was there, when we put that Bonneville Commons development together, before we even bought the property and tore the building down, we went around and asked the neighbors and the neighborhood association what they thought,” Dahlquist said. “I think that was a positive and it created lots of buy-in with everything. That’s just my philosophy.”

Regarding the possibility of staffing alterations or changes, Dahlquist said once he is appointed to office, it is his evaluation to make, collectively setting goals and priorities and holding everyone accountable.

“I’m not the type that tries to make a decision outside looking in,” Dahlquist said. “I think I’ve been pretty clear with the fact that when I go in, I assess, and everyone should have goals and expectations. I think I’m good about laying those out on the table. We’ll do that and then we go from there. But I don’t have any preconceived plans or notions on what I’ll do with staff or anything, or that I’ll put one person under a microscope harder than someone else. That’s not my style.”

Dahlquist said he doesn’t have an ax to grind with anyone, adding that the CFO hiring decision has been made and that he will move forward.

“My opinion is we should have waited,” Dahlquist said. “But I’m not distraught. I’m not disgruntled. We’ll just go on and put our best foot forward.”

Despite the contentious nature of the hiring, Dahlquist said he remains energized about his plan for Pocatello.

“I am committed to ensuring a smooth transition, building a collaborative and forward-looking team, and being laser-focused on serving the people of our city starting on day one,” Dahlquist said.