If Hollister City Councilmembers and Interim City Manager Clint
Quilter succeed in negotiating the terms of his contract over the
next few weeks, Quilter will soon have a permanent position as the
city’s top administrator.
Hollister – If Hollister City Councilmembers and Interim City Manager Clint Quilter succeed in negotiating the terms of his contract over the next few weeks, Quilter will soon have a permanent position as the city’s top administrator.
During a special closed-session meeting Monday, the city council and Quilter began working on a new contract to hire Quilter for the job he has performed since former City Manager Dale Shaddox resigned under an early-retirement incentive he created to soften budget cuts in city staffing last spring.
“We’re still working on negotiating a contract,” Mayor Pauline Valdivia said. She added that she hopes that the city and Quilter can come to an agreement in the next few weeks. If the city and Quilter can reach an agreement, he will formally be offered the job, Valdivia said.
Though Quilter would not comment about any specifics of the negotiations, he said he currently is discussing the city’s expectations of him and his contract requirements with the city council.
With Quilter’s current contract expiring this month, the city needed to re-negotiate a deal with him anyhow, Valdivia said. Quilter’s original nine-month contract following Shaddox’s departure was extended to a year in February.
“(Quilter’s interim contract) is up this month, so we have to deal with it as soon as possible,” Valdivia said.
Even before Monday’s negotiations, the majority of the council had indicated they were prepared to offer Quilter the job permanently. However, council members refused to comment on the decision Tuesday, referring all questions to Valdivia.
“Right now Clint has been in the position since last year and he’s done a good job,” Valdivia said.
As city manager, Quilter directs all city department heads and employees and serves as a liaison between the council and city staff. He assists the council during meetings, fielding questions on issues such as policy, inter-governmental relations and the city’s sewer moratorium.
Though Quilter refused to comment on details surrounding the negotiations, he did say he felt his experience in the community and familiarity with city operations would be an asset if he were hired.
“This is the community I live in, and I think it’s important to maintain continuity,” Quilter said. “I think I can make a positive contribution.”
Quilter has been with the City of Hollister for about 15 years, starting out as an engineering inspector in 1989 and working his way up to public works director by 1997.
Since starting as the interim city manager, he’s been through budget crunches, widespread city lay-offs and pressure to meet a daunting state-imposed deadline for completion of a new sewer plant after a 15 million gallon spill in May 2002. Though the city has admitted it will miss its sewer deadline of October 2005, Quilter has been successful in negotiating an extension with the Regional Water Quality Control Board, the agency enforcing the moratorium.
In the 12 months since Quilter took office, council members praised him for his work in executing a Memorandum of Understanding between the often-feuding city, county and San Benito County Water District and in hiring City Finance Director Robert Galvan.
“He’s done a good job for the past year,” said Interim Engineering Manager Steve Wittry. “It’s a tough place to be and he’s done well with it.”
Luke Roney covers education and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at lr****@fr***********.com
