The Hollister City Council voted in closed session on Oct. 21 to fire City Manager Ana Cortez, who has been the subject of increasing criticism for her approach to cutting costs and issuing layoff notices to dozens of city employees in recent weeks.
After the council returned to the City Hall chamber after the closed session, City Attorney Dayna D. Louie said the council voted 3-2 to terminate Cortez’s contract “for convenience.” Vice Mayor Priscilla de Anda and Councilmember Rolan Resendiz voted against Cortez’s firing.
It is unclear if the “for convenience” reasoning protects the city from having to pay Cortez for exiting her contract.
Louie added that the council also agreed to appoint Hollister Airport Director Jeff Crechriou as the acting city manager. Crechriou will serve as City Hall’s top staff person while the council considers its options for permanently filling the city manager’s position.
The council did not discuss a timeline or the next steps in a potential search for a new city manager.
Cortez’s firing comes after she issued layoff notices on Oct. 14 to at least 36 city employees, and has faced mounting accusations that she did so without consulting the city’s labor unions, department heads or other city officials.
Shortly after those layoff notices were issued, members of the Hollister Police Officers Association and the local chapter of the Service Employees International Union reported votes of no confidence in Cortez, and demanded that the council terminate her employment as city manager.
The layoff notices informed the affected employees that they were to be placed on administrative leave, with their employment with the City of Hollister set to end on Nov. 13. The affected employees included nine civilian police staff members, as well as employees in the city’s public works, airport, parks and recreation and finance departments.
The council hired Cortez in February, at an annual salary of $265,000.
The council called the Oct. 21 meeting as a special session, after taking actions at the Oct. 19 meeting that reversed previous decisions recommended by Cortez to address the city’s ongoing financial challenges.
Specifically on Oct. 19, the council voted to reverse a declaration of “financial emergency” that it approved on Oct. 2. The council also voted to end the laid-off employees’ administrative leave and “continue to meet and confer regarding impacts of the workforce reductions.”
But during the Oct. 21 meeting, some of the affected employees and their union heads said they remain in the dark about the fate of their future with the city. Speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, some asked the council to rescind the layoff notices entirely.
Hollister SEIU President Frank Garcia, who works in the city’s stormwater division, said city employees are still concerned that they will be unemployed as of Nov. 13. Garcia added that city officials have acknowledged errors in City Hall financial reporting that may have influenced the recent layoff notices.
“Your employees should not bear the pressure of that deadline while the city sorts out its errors,” Garcia said. “Please rescind the layoff notices. Give us a fair opportunity to reach an agreement based on accurate financial information.”
City officials have said the current financial state is the result of years of inattention and mismanagement by previous councilmembers and city staff. At the Oct. 2 meeting, Cortez claimed the city had only $178 in its general fund bank account, and would not be able to pay employees’ next paycheck.
Also on Oct. 2, the council approved a loan of $18 million from its impact fees fund to the general and water funds in order to make payroll.
