Note to our subscribers: In the Dec. 14 print edition of the Morgan Hill Times, the Dispatch incorrectly printed Mayor Steve Tate’s name in the headline, instead of City Manager Ed Tewes. The error has been corrected online.
With the City Council’s search for a new city manager reaching the final stages, Ed Tewes has agreed to stay in the position until February in order to help preserve functionality at City Hall until the City’s top two staff positions are filled.
When Tewes announced his upcoming resignation earlier this year, he said his last day as city manager would be Dec. 28. However, he agreed to remain on the job until Feb. 15 to provide “administrative continuity” during the transition to both a new city manager and city attorney, Mayor Steve Tate said.
City Attorney Danny Wan announced last month that he too will be leaving his job at Morgan Hill, which he has held since 2008, for a general counsel position at the Port of Oakland. His last day at City Hall will be Dec. 14, and he will start his new job in Oakland Dec. 17.
“With both our city attorney and city manager leaving, we wanted to have continuity of management, with an acting city manager and acting city attorney at the same time,” Tate said.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, the Council voted 5-0 to hire Gary Baum as the interim city attorney while they recruit a permanent replacement.
Baum’s contract allows a maximum amount of $85,000 for his services as City Attorney until a new permanent city attorney is hired, according to a City staff report. The contract goes no later than March 31, 2013.
The contract will pay Baum a monthly salary that is about the same as what the City currently pays Wan in salary and benefits, according to City staff.
The city also recently hired executive search firm Bob Murray & Associates to recruit candidates for a permanent replacement for Wan. The Council hopes to have a new full-time city attorney by February 2013.
Tewes will remain on the City’s payroll until March 1, but will be on vacation from Feb. 15 to March 1, according to his updated resignation letter he submitted to the Council Nov. 20.
The field of viable candidates to replace Tewes has been narrowed down by the Council to less than 10, according to Tate.
The mayor and Councilmember Gordon Siebert make up the Council subcommittee that has been working on whittling down the field since the Nov. 16 cutoff date for applicants. Tate and Siebert have already interviewed and screened some of the candidates, and will continue to do so until the end of next week.
They plan to have the field further narrowed to the top five by Dec. 21, when the full Council plans to convene to interview those five candidates.
This summer, the Council hired the executive search firm Ralph Anderson and Associates to accept applications and conduct initial screening efforts.
The Council subcommittee has declined to release the names or any details about the candidates they are aware of, citing promises of confidentiality pronounced to the applicants. Tate said at Wednesday’s Council meeting that two of the applicants for city manager are already working at City Hall, and “two or three” are from outside California.
The remaining candidates in the narrowed down field that Tate and Siebert have interviewed so far are “very good,” Tate said.
The Council hopes to select its top choice for the city manager’s job by January. After that, they will begin the process of negotiating a contract.
At the latest, they Council wants the new city manager will be on the job by Feb. 15. Siebert said it might be helpful if he or she was seated before then, with some “overlap” as Tewes perhaps serves in a lighter role – such as a consultant – until Feb. 15.
“He’s gained tremendous knowledge (of City Hall) that would be helpful” to the new city manager, Siebert said.
Tewes has served as Morgan Hill’s city manager for 13 years. In 2011, Tewes’ total compensation, including allowances, benefits and leave payouts, was about $263,500. That includes regular wages of about $189,000.
