New city manager vows to make public disclosure a top
priority
But for the love of a rare gem, citizens of San Juan Bautista
might have missed an opportunity to reopen the doors to City
Hall.
Janice McClintock, the new San Juan Bautista City Manager, says
she discovered the Mission Town on a trip to San Benito County in a
quest for a bit of the county legacy
– the California State Gemstone, benitoite. She hails from the
Inland Empire of the Mojave Desert, near Victorville, where she
worked for Riverside County and the City of Fontana.
New city manager vows to make public disclosure a top priority
But for the love of a rare gem, citizens of San Juan Bautista might have missed an opportunity to reopen the doors to City Hall.
Janice McClintock, the new San Juan Bautista City Manager, says she discovered the Mission Town on a trip to San Benito County in a quest for a bit of the county legacy – the California State Gemstone, benitoite. She hails from the Inland Empire of the Mojave Desert, near Victorville, where she worked for Riverside County and the City of Fontana.
McClintock, 48, replaces the embattled former City Manager Jennifer Coile, who launched a war of words against the press when she began publishing detailed rebuttals of news accounts on the city’s Website and went as far as to advise the City Council not to speak with reporters shortly after she took the post in July 2005. At issue was the shaky status of an $8.9 million water infrastructure grant, badly needed to improve water quality throughout the small town. Federal grant givers suspended $3.8 million of the project money in September because of a dispute between the City of San Juan and their partners in the venture, the San Benito County Water District.
McClintock, who has kept an eye on San Juan politics through newspaper stories posted on the Internet, said her style is different from that of Coile’s – markedly different.
“I’ve been watching, I guess you could call it, a drama,” McClintock said, when asked if she were aware of the highly charged issue. “I’m a lot gentler. People have different personalities. But I’ve been raised in an environment where I’ve been taught public disclosure is critical. It’s the only way to go in the public sector.”
The new policy reverses a closed-door attitude on the part of city government that trudged on for more than half a year, one that frustrated local citizens normally active in their town’s government and, eventually, a few elected officials alike. Councilman Chuck Geiger was the first to break from Coile’s code of silence, followed by City Treasurer Paul Petersen. Both have been frustrated by a lack of disclosure regarding the city’s accounting methods from Coile and their fellow elected officials, whom they say were kept in a secret information loop since they adhered to Coile’s policy of non-disclosure.
McClintock said one of the first projects she will tackle is posting all the city’s budgetary information and financial reports on the Internet. She hopes to keep the information current by updating the reports on a quarterly basis.
“The press has a right to ask questions about the budget, to see what the financial situation is,” McClintock said.
Mayor Dan Reed, like most of his fellow council members, hasn’t answered a direct question from The Pinnacle for several months. But with the change in guard, he was pleased to talk about Coile’s replacement. During the council’s re-interviews with McClintock, she told them that her policy would be one of openness.
“She mentioned that was how she would like to manage,” Reed said. “I think that’s going to be good, and hopefully no one gets thrown a curve. We will be able to discuss and weigh things out and do it in a professional manner – instead of shot-gunning it like before.”
McClintock says she realizes that while government entities are in negotiations – such as the San Benito Water District and the City of San Juan – not all details can be revealed immediately. She said that at the moment, negotiations between the district and the city are under way, and she is optimistic that the stalemate will be eradicated soon.
“From what I’ve seen, I think that’s probably going to get resolved in the next month or so,” she said.
McClintock grew up in the Great Plains and comes from a farming family. She attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois, where she received a bachelor’s of science in biology with a teaching credential.
After college, McClintock got a job at Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, where she says she learned technology and management skills. After that, she spent 11 years as senior computer consultant working with various high-powered firms throughout the nation, including Anheuser-Busch, Monsanto, Barnes-Jewish-Children’s Hospitals, the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, AT&T and Ralston-Purina.
She started working for local governments nine years ago in Southern California; her most recent post was special projects manager with the City of Fontana. She is currently working on her master’s degree in public speaking through Golden Gate University. She says she feels honored to be able to work for San Juan Bautista.
“I’m real happy to be here,” McClintock said. “I’m not just saying that because it’s something good to say. I like the area, the city, and I think it’s going to be a real good experience.”
McClintock was among three final contenders for City Manager when the council chose Coile last July, apparently because she lived in Hollister. After Coile announced her resignation in December, the council re-examined the final choices.
