The San Juan Bautista City Council Tuesday selected former Morgan Hill City Manager Ed Tewes to serve as the city’s top administrator.
“I was approached with the opportunity to help you and help the staff, and it’s clear there’s no shortage of projects and issues,” said Tewes, who has over 40 years of experience in communities including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Long Beach and Modesto. “The most important project I think is to get the next permanent city manager. I can be helpful in that regard. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
The council was eager to get Tewes onboard as soon as possible because current acting Interim City Manager Matt Orbach, who juggles a variety of other city jobs, is leaving in two weeks.
“After that two week period, report back to us,” Councilman Dan DeVries said. “By then you should have a good sense of how much time you need, what the ideal schedule would look like going forward. In other words, everything would be front loaded for those two weeks to maximize your interaction with Matt.”
Council members settled on a $50 an hour contract with no benefits at 32 hours a week, equal to four days.
Former City Manager Roger Grimsley abruptly resigned last month after six years in the position during a city council closed session. Grimsley, who also served in a number of high profile roles in Hollister, including city manager and public works director during the 1970s and 1980s, had announced his intent to retire last year, but resigned after it came to light that he had approved significant alterations to a section of the Rancho Vista housing development currently under construction, without requiring the developer to seek approval from elected city representatives.
The city council also moved to hire Pleasanton-based 4Leaf Inc. to handle the city’s engineering position, also left vacant by Grimsley’s resignation.
The engineering consulting firm also works for the City of Hollister and San Benito County. Two 4Leaf consultants were running the county’s Resource Management Agency up until a couple weeks ago when a permanent director was found.
The council voted unanimously on both matters. Mayor Chris Martorana was out with an excused absence.
