After several weeks of negotiations, the city council voted
Monday to hire Hollister’s long-time interim City Manager Clint
Quilter to permanently fill the post.
Hollister – After several weeks of negotiations, the city council voted Monday to hire Hollister’s long-time interim City Manager Clint Quilter to permanently fill the post.
“I know definitely you know what you got yourself into,” Mayor Pauline Valdivia said to Quilter Monday evening shortly after the board approved hiring him.
Quilter, who said he will focus on resolving the city’s sewage situation, which has brought building in the city to a halt, and fostering economic vitality in the city, will become Hollister’s permanent city manager on July 1. He has worked as interim city manager for more than a year.
“I appreciate the opportunity,” Quilter said to the board.
As city manager, Quilter will be paid about $121,000 per year – 5 percent more than the salary received by the city’s highest paid department head. Most candidates for the job would have wanted more than $150,000 per year, according to Councilman Doug Emerson, adding that Quilter put the city, which is facing a deficit of about $3 million, ahead of making more money.
“He realizes the city has financial problems, and he has contributed to solving them,” Emerson said.
Once the contract begins on July 1, it will remain in effect until it is terminated by either the city or Quilter. Quilter was the only city employee who was a candidate for the job, and the city did not have funds to recruit candidates from outside Hollister, according to Councilman Brad Pike.
Council members hope that Quilter’s more than 15 years of experience working in the city will be an asset as he becomes the permanent city manager.
In 1989 Quilter began working for the city as an engineering inspector. By 1997, Quilter worked his way up to public works director. When former City Manager Dale Shaddox left the position last year, the council voted unanimously to give Quilter the job on an interim basis.
“He didn’t have to work too hard building bridges, because they were already there,” Valdivia said.
Since starting as interim city manager, Quilter has been through budget crunches, widespread city lay-offs and pressure to meet a state-imposed deadline for completion of a new sewer plant after a 15 million gallon sewage spill in May 2002.
“There’s a lot to be said about a person who steps forward in the midst of all that,” Emerson said.
Among the things he will focus on as city manger, Quilter said the “two biggies” are the resolving the city’s waste water issue and financial stability in the city.
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, which is enforcing the building moratorium that was imposed after the 2002 spill.
Also, Quilter said that providing services to the city of nearly 37,000 people will be a challenge because the city’s staff was slashed by 25 percent last year.
Pike hopes Quilter will be a strong leader and aggressive in solving the city’s sewer problem and creating an environment that fosters economic stability in the city.
“He’s got a lot on his plate,” Pike said. “I think it’s a good opportunity for the council and the city to work together and change the persona of Hollister. He has the opportunity to hit the ground running.”
With such a heavy load of complex problems facing the city, Quilter has a simple approach to the job.
“The biggest thing is to act with integrity in the things you do and ensure that the organization does the same,” Quilter said.
Luke Roney covers politics and agriculture for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or at [email protected]
