After a year and a half of operating with an acting city manager
who is paid by the hour, San Juan Bautista is moving toward again
making the position permanent. For the past month, the city has
advertised the position on its Web site, with an application
deadline of Dec. 28. However, since only one person
– acting city manager Steve Julian – has applied so far, the
deadline has been extended into this month.
After a year and a half of operating with an acting city manager who is paid by the hour, San Juan Bautista is moving toward again making the position permanent.
For the past month, the city has advertised the position on its Web site, with an application deadline of Dec. 28. However, since only one person – acting city manager Steve Julian – has applied so far, the deadline has been extended into this month.
City Clerk Trish Paetz said the deadline will likely be extended through the end of January, while she also advertises the job with the League of California Cities.
Mayor Ed Laverone said the idea of re-posting the city manager’s job as permanent was solidified after a September review of Julian, who was hired for the interim, $45.43-per-hour job in June 2008.
“Nobody’s perfect but he’s doing an exceptional job,” Laverone said of Julian. “He’s the most experienced person we’ve ever had as city manager. He could probably run any city in the state. His ability to get things done is very good.”
Laverone, while not guaranteeing who would get the job, said that the council believes that a city manager will be more effective and invested in his or her decisions if that person is a permanent employee.
“You’ve got to give someone a feeling of permanency,” he said. “I’m sure Julian will say that all city manager’s are temporary because they serve at the will of the city council, but (removing the interim tag from the job) gives the person an ability to move things forward. I see some people in interim positions not wanting to make changes that need to be done without knowing they’ll be here to see their changes through.”
Julian could not be reached for comment by press time.
Laverone said the city council did not expect to have an interim city manager for so long, “but with the infrastructure project moving we didn’t want to shake things up.”
San Juan Councilman Rick Edge, the town’s previous mayor, said he, too, sees value in having the city manager’s job be permanent.
See the Pinnacle on Friday for the full story.
