Mayor Brian Conroy and Councilman Tony LoBue could have been
roommates for three days. Instead, the city is out $1,500.
Mayor Brian Conroy and Councilman Tony LoBue could have been roommates for three days. Instead, the city is out $1,500.
Hollister City Council members and incoming City Manager Dale Shaddox – all of whom had planned to attend a statewide Leadership Team Workshop to improve working relationships among top city officials, decided against going because two Council members canceled after giving verbal commitments. The city had already sent a deposit and will forfeit $1,500.
Councilwoman Pauline Valdivia was the first to cancel, citing personal reasons involving her family. After Valdivia’s decision, the remaining Council members still felt the conference would have been beneficial – especially with Shaddox starting Monday – but finally gave up on the idea when Conroy also recently backed out.
“Because of work, I am not able to attend,” Conroy said, who added that his employer was “opening up a new service center.”
The three-day conference for mayors, city managers and city councils is sponsored by the California League of Cities and attempts to “improve working relationships at the top level of the city’s leadership,” according to the event’s brochure. This year, the conference is being held in South Lake Tahoe.
“These conferences are always good,” said Conroy, who emphasized the importance of building rapport with Shaddox.
Councilman Tony Bruscia stressed that the Council’s need to improve its working relationship does not connote “thinking or voting the same way.”
“Working together in a constructive fashion is really important to being a good Council,” Bruscia said.
Hollister councils have attended the conference in past years, according to City Clerk Geri Johnson.
In recent weeks, Bruscia, who has attended several League of Cities meetings, pushed for the Council to register for the program.
“I’m disappointed we aren’t able to all go and do it at this point,” Bruscia said. “It would help us all to function all together even better.”
If the city had not canceled its reservation before today, it would have forfeited the entire registration fee of $5,250. Interim City Manager Ed Kreins inquired with the League of Cities about whether the deposit could go toward a future session, but was told the money must be forfeited.
“I hate to lose that money,” Councilman Robert Scattini said. “But by the same token, I can’t see it benefiting us to go with three or four of us.
“I thought it would be great, just the bunch of us.”
Conroy and Bruscia said the city may pursue other means of improving the working relationships among Council members and the new city manager. Officials may either bring a facilitator to Hollister or Council members may attend a different workshop closer to Hollister.
Valdivia said the Council can improve its working relationships through interactions at meetings and in closed sessions.
“I don’t think we need to go miles and miles away to do that,” she said.
