The San Juan Bautista City Council announced Monday that
Hollister resident Jennifer Coile is to take the city’s helm as
city manager, three months after the controversial firing of former
City Manager Larry Cain.
San Juan Bautista – The San Juan Bautista City Council announced Monday that Hollister resident Jennifer Coile is to take the city’s helm as city manager, three months after the controversial firing of former City Manager Larry Cain.
The council unanimously chose Coile, who moved to Hollister in 2001 with her husband and daughter, based on her desire to retain San Juan’s historic, small-town ambiance and her credentials – including a master’s degree from Harvard in city planning, according to Vice Mayor Charles Geiger.
“I love this city so much. Because my background in local government covered a lot of areas like transportation and affordable housing, I feel I have the right technical expertise,” Coile said. “And because it’s such a small environment everything’s very doable.”
Coile, currently a housing and community development consultant, will take the city’s reins beginning July 1 and already has four priorities she plans to tackle:
n Balancing the budget and increasing revenue sources by finding grants that may have been overlooked in the past
n Increasing customer service for city residents by keeping city staff content
n Strengthening existing businesses by enticing visitors to linger longer and shop more
n Maintaining a good working relationship with the San Benito County Water District
Coile, who will start out earning $60,000 a year, offered to pass on a retirement and benefits package for the first year of her contract because she already has health benefits through her husband’s job and she knows the city could use the break.
Her contract is renewable on a yearly basis, and she hopes to help the city fight it’s way out of an $80,000 deficit so next year she may be able to add a retirement package.
Geiger said Coile’s hiring is saving the city more than $20,000 because with his benefit’s package Cain was earning more than $80,000 a year.
“She understands she needs to prove herself and she’s ready for it,” Geiger said.
Coile’s organizational skills and flair for grant writing placed her a head above the other 26 applicants the council interviewed for the position, Geiger said. And her understanding of the importance of the city’s multi-million dollar infrastructure grant sealed the deal, he said. Part of the uproar over Cain’s firing was the timing – the council voted 3-2 to terminate the four-year veteran as a $3.8 million federal grant hung in the balance.
However, the city secured the grant and Geiger believes Coile’s 25 years of experience as community development consultant will give the Mission City the guidance it needs to pull through its rough patch.
“She’s good at creating written policy, which is very important to us because San Juan has lacked policies in writing,” Geiger said. “Her biggest strengths are to organize and communicate with the people in the community.”
He also believes Coile will help smooth over of the resentment some residents feel over Cain’s firing – a move that prompted political activist and long-time San Juan resident Rebecca McGovern to initiate a recall against Geiger and Mayor Arturo Medina, which failed two weeks ago for a lack of qualified signatures. Geiger and Medina, along with Councilman George Dias, voted to oust Cain because they said he was derelict in his duties and failed to communicate with councilmembers. Cain, along with the four other councilmembers, did not return phone calls Monday.
While Coile’s resume looks good on paper, McGovern isn’t impressed with the new addition to the city’s government for one simple reason: she isn’t Larry Cain.
“Of course we can always wait and see, but I’m telling you Larry Cain was the best city manager we have ever had,” McGovern said. “I would like to see Larry Cain back where he belongs.”
McGovern said she was disappointed the hiring process wasn’t open to the public so residents could give their input into who they believed was the best candidate.
“She is going to be serving the citizens of this town and the citizens have a right to know what their potential manager is like,” she said. “The city manager is the most important person in the city government – it’s not the city council.”
While McGovern may not be satisfied with the council’s decision, Geiger believes the bucolic city is finally moving in the right direction and Coile could be the catalyst it needs to rebuild some of the fractured relationships Cain’s firing caused.
“I think the community will understand she’s really caring and she’ll do the best she can for the city,” he said. “We want people in the recall group to come in so we can say, ‘This is a good person. You’ve just got to give her a chance.’ She’s got a very strong backbone.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected]
