Debra Auker, city manager of Half Moon Bay, has resigned. Her last day will be September 15. She has been city manager for just over two years, beginning June 2004.  Auker has been a city employee for five years.

In her letter of resignation [pdf], Auker said: "Now that we have recovered from the disastrous effect of Devil’s Slide and we have important public works projects, such as the Hwy 92/Main Street Improvements, underway; it is time for me to pursue other ventures."

In a press release from city hall, Mayor Marina Fraser praised her for her hiring of city staff and securing funding for the city’s Highway 92 projects.  City council member Jim Grady applauded her management of the city’s finance department, her presentation of city budgets, contract negotiations with city employees, and acquisition of new land. Whenever I called to ask her a question for Coastsider, I found her to be helpful, friendly, and professional.

The city has begun a search for an interim city manager and a permanent city manager. If no interim city manager is selected by September 15, the city’s director of public works and recreation, Paul Nagengast will be appointed acting city manager.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-14) will hold Town Hall Meetings in Half Moon Bay on Saturday, July 15th from 10am to 11:30am at the I.D.E.S. Hall at 735 Main Street. She will discuss her work on the House Intelligence Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee, including the new Medicare Prescription Drug program, the federal budget, disaster response and preparedness, American competitiveness, and the war in Iraq. All constituents are invited to attend and share their concerns with Rep. Eshoo.

For more information, including assistance with directions, please visit Rep. Eshoo’s website at http://eshoo.house.gov or call her District Office at (650) 323-2984, (831) 335-2020 or (408) 245-2339.

The Half Moon Bay City Council appointed "Farmer John" Muller to fill the position vacated by David Gorn at tonight’s special meeting.

Six candidates interviewed for the council position vacated by David Gorn. After hearing the candidates discuss their qualifications and answer the four sitting council members’ questions, the council nominated only two, Jack McCarthy and John Muller, then unanimously selected "Farmer John" to fill the remainder of Gorn’s term.  The vote was declared unanimous by the council after Grady voted for McCarthy, and then voted with the Patridge, McClung, and Fraser for John Muller.

John Muller is best known as a local pumpkin farmer. But he also has broad public experience. He emphasized his eleven years on the Regional Water Quality Control Board for nine counties—five times as chairman, service on an EPA advisory board, and past presidency of Coastside Community Water District.

While all of the volunteer candidates presented themselves well, George Muteff may have been more disappointed by the outcome than the others, since he had run alongside, supported, and held his election night party with Naomi Patridge and Bonnie McClung in their council run in 2005. Neither Patridge nor McClung nominated Muteff for the Planning Commission earlier this year.

John Muller would "triage a lot of issues to shorten the list" so more time could be spent on priorities. He thought building a new police facility was a key issue. He stressed that he is a consensus builder and likes to get things done.

George Muteff wants to see a better quality of life for everyone by protecting property rights, providing more openness in government, and improving infrastructure. Muteff says that he wants to educate the public on the issues.

Kevin Lansing felt the city could do better in counseling applicants for development about the legal constraints of the Coastal Act so they did not run into a brick wall later. He also expressed concern about the city’s structural deficit because of the 7% annual compounded growth of its salary and benefits.

Jim Marsh stressed "public service" over politics, citing the split political affiliations of the four current council members, which simulates the national split and gives citizens "business as usual," the local split politics. Marsh says that Half Moon Bay should lead because the county is derelict in its land use and road development policies. He believes in smart growth, concentrating development where it already exists.

Jack McCarthy said he is a moderate and has broad experience because of his years on the planning commission and having to balance the environment with development. Jack spoke about "following the rules," in reference to the Coastal Act and Measure D. "We need to grow Half Moon Bay in a way that doesn’t ruin it."

Susan Suer is a new face in the public sphere but has lived on the Coastside nine years. She has no long-term political ambition, but likes the idea of filling in a term. Her background is in business strategy development and teamwork. She thinks Half Moon Bay spends too much time, to its detriment, on land development issues, and counseled that the city needs to focus on expanding its revenue base. She wants to see more compromise, co-operation, openness, and a team spirit from the council.

There is a Grand Jury report [pdf] available regarding San Mateo County’s shortchanging of 4 cities’ property taxes. On page one of the report it states: "Of the 17 counties with qualifying cities, San Mateo is the only county in the state that failed to comply promptly with the TEA provisions of AB 1197."

The GJ report is long, repetitive, and largely boring, but skimming it might be worthwhile to some people, especially to elected officials and government agency senior staff.

Tuesday night at 6:30pm, the Half Moon Bay City Council will hold special meeting to interview candidates to replace David Gorn and appoint one of them to fill his position.

 

• 6:45   John Muller

 

• 7:00   George Muteff

 

• 7:15   Kevin Lansing

 

• 7:30   Jim Marsh

 

• 7:45   Jack McCarthy

 

• 8:00   Susan Suer

 

• 8:15   Denis O’Sullivan

The council will also review the Highway 92 and Main Street project costs at the meeting.

One well-known candidate (John Muller) has already thrown his hat into the ring (if that’s the correct metaphor for an appointed position) to replace David Gorn on the Half Moon Bay City Council. The deadline for applications is Thursday, July 6, and candidates will be interviewed on Tuesday, July 11.

Independence Day Eve is as good an occasion as any to start a discussion of what kind of person, and specifically who, should be appointed to fill the position.  It is a better occasion than most to remind everyone that we’re going to be enforcing strict civility rules in this discussion. 

New and infrequent posters are especially welcome to participate.  You must be a registered user to post, and must use your real, full name.  Once you’re registered, click on the "comments" link under the headline of this story.

Dale Dunham is a resident of Half Moon Bay. This is a version of public comments he read at Tuesday’s Half Moon Bay City Council meeting.

Leadership in a disaster situation is critical; this is an unalterable truth that cannot be overemphasized.  The person appointed to the leadership role should be in a senior position of authority in local government, be extremely knowledgeable of disaster response requirements, and also be in a position that would normally permit their immediate response to fulfill emergency duties. In Half Moon Bay, as in other cities, the City Manager fills that most important leadership role of Director of Emergency Services. (HMB Municipal Code:  Chapter 2.40, Emergency Organization)

In addition, the City of HMB Emergency Plan states that “The City of Half Moon Bay City Manager, serving as the EOC (Emergency Operations Center) Director, will manage and coordinate the city’s disaster response in conformance with state law and county emergency response ordinances.” (City of HMB Emergency Operations Plan, Volume One, Page 1, Executive Summary)

The City Manager should then, be required to fulfill the requirements for authority, knowledge and availability.  As the “CEO” for the City, the City Manager has the authority and, presumably, because of emergency training and senior management involvement in all facets of city management, the knowledge.  And, as the person hired to be responsible for virtually every operation of the city, the City Manager should live in the city and be available.

The Half Moon Bay City Manager lives in Oakland.

The city of Half Moon Bay has set a deadline of Thursday, July 6, for applications to fill the city council seat vacated by David Gorn.  Applicants must submit a "Willing to Serve Form", a letter of intent, and a resume detailing their public service by Thursday, July 6, 2006 at 5:00 p.m.. You can pick up the form at City Hall.

The city council will interview potential appointees at a special meeting on Tuesday, July 11 at 6:30pm at the Adcock Community Center, 535 Kelly Avenue.  For additional information, contact City Clerk Siobhan Smith at 726-8271.

The Half Moon Bay city council majority voted to appoint a replacement for resigning council member David Gorn. The council had the option of holding an election in November.

The replacement must be appointed within 30 days of Gorn’s resignation, which was on June 12. The council plans to hold its interviews and appoint its new member on the next to the last possible day: Tuesday, July 11.

Council member Jim Grady recommended requiring all candidates to promise not to run for election when their term expired.  He said that this had been done twice in San Carlos and had lowered the level of politics in the appointment.  The council rejected this idea.

Council members Patridge, McClung, and Fraser voted to appoint a replacement. Grady voted no on the motion.  All three voting yes said that they were doing so because less than half of Gorn’s term remained to be served.

David Gorn announced Monday that he’s resigning immediately from Half Moon Bay City Council.  The city council as the option of appointing a replacement or holding an election for Gorn’s seat in November. Gorn, who was appointed to fill the vacancy left by Sid McCausland’s resignation, would have been up for re-election in November 2007.

"When I applied for the job seven months ago, I thought I could serve on the council and keep my a career afloat," Gorn told me.  Until his appointment to city council, Gorn worked as an independent producer and editor for National Public Radio. "The higher-ups at NPR decided on the side of being cautious," said Gorn. "They said they’d use me as soon as I was off the city council."

"I haven’t worked in the last seven months. I put my career on hold to serve on the city council, but I can’t put it on hold for another year and a half. I need to support my family." He noted that the stakes in this decision were not just immediate income, but the future of his career.

"This was really hard for me.  In most of decisions in my life, both outcomes would have been good. This was a matter of which kills me less." 

Gorn held off resigning until the completion of the vote on Measure S, the parcel tax.  He has been very active in the campaign. He was concerned that leaving his seat open could lead to the kind of conflict that was sparked by the planning commission appointments earlier in the year and that this would damage the campaign.  "But it’s still soon enough that it could go to an election in November,"  he says, although he doesn’t know what the city council plans to do to fill his seat.

Gorn says he thought he knew a lot about the community from being editor the Half Moon Bay Review, but that he has learned much more since joining the council and wants to apply it in the community.  He wants to work toward helping the schools, finding a permanent home for the Boys and Girls Club, parks, trails, and open space and other community projects.

"You have to do a lot of work to keep a place like this feeling the same over time," he said.