Interim city manager to be appointed Wednesday, according to city document
By BROOKE SELF
- STAFF WRITER
Posted Feb. 20, 2015 at 5:52 PM
Updated Feb 20, 2015 at 8:01 PMADELANTO — An interim city manager could be appointed Wednesday in a closed-session City Council meeting and three other City Hall employees also find themselves on the chopping block as Adelanto officials look to reduce a city deficit now estimated at $1.7 million, according to a document released this week.
The names of the employees facing layoffs were not listed on the City Council agenda, however, both Senior Management Analyst Mike Borja and Conservation Specialist Belen Cordero, said Friday that they believe they’re on the short list of workers being considered.
A report of the city’s mid-year budget also shows that City Manager Jim Hart is expected to resign by the end of the month and the council has requested layoffs of employees who are paid by the general fund and Adelanto Public Utility Authority.
Messages left with Hart and City Attorney Todd Litfin regarding the council agenda items were not returned. The City Council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at 11600 Air Expressway.
Former Mayor Cari Thomas said despair at City Hall is “palpable.” Adelanto went through a major round of layoffs in March 2013, when city officials axed 13 employees and cut the city's deficit from $5.4 million to $2.6 million. City Hall is now considered to have a “skeleton crew,” and many employees are performing multiple jobs to keep city services running, Thomas said.
“Most employees are scared they too will be fired and several are looking for new jobs,” said Thomas, who questioned how the city will continue to function. “How does this new council think they will attract quality employees when it has been printed in almost every news outlet in Southern California that the city will be out of cash come December 2015?”
Borja, who is a resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, said he has worked “behind the scenes” on a lot of the city’s economic development efforts since he was hired in 2006, including bringing both of the new dollar discount stores to Adelanto. He is Hart's right-hand man. Hart went on a two-week administrative leave last week amid the pressure of a council evaluation and his rumored termination.
“Prior to Jim leaving, he informed me that, yes, the council is looking to let me go,” Borja said. “The city manager was my supervisor.”
Cordero said she’s responsible for water and energy conservation efforts and has helped Adelanto reach the gold level in a Southern California Edison program that garners thousands of dollars in rebates and incentives for the city annually. She believes Adelanto would violate state water conservation and recycling mandates if it lays her off.
“I’ve had an interview this whole last week,” Cordero said. “I’ve been with the city of Adelanto for 16 years but I had to justify what I do there. It’s personal attacks. I don’t even get paid out of the general fund. I know the city has financial problems but I get paid out of the (Adelanto Public Utility Authority) fund. I don’t make enough money to even cause a dent in the general fund. They've got million-dollar problems — not measly me problems.”
Borja and Cordero said they were asked to re-interview for their positions in front of individual council members this week and to describe their job duties. Each said they didn't believe the new council members understood what their positions entailed and the ramifications of laying them off.
“To let us go for whatever reason, I think is an injustice to the city,” Borja said. “I think our positions are very beneficial to the city and I would hate to see the city lose that. To me, we’re going backwards.”
Thomas accused new Mayor Rich Kerr and council members Charley Glasper and Jermaine Wright of violating the Ralph M. Brown Act, California's set of opening meeting laws, by discussing personnel changes outside of City Hall chambers. She said Kerr, who defeated her in November's election, “was completely misinformed on every level of government” and is seeking to run City Hall as a “strong-mayor” form of government.
“I know the mayor, Charley Glasper and Jermaine Wright are in constant contact,” Thomas said. “I think the three of them have got their three votes and are not consulting Ed Camargo (or John "Bug" Woodard) on much. They got the three votes they need and it doesn't matter.”
All three men denied Thomas' accusation. Glasper said Thomas was only speculating and does not know what has already been discussed during closed sessions. Kerr said Thomas was expressing her First Amendment rights and could say whatever she pleases.
“Ms. Thomas can have any opinion she would like,” Kerr said. “We haven’t voted on any layoffs. There have been discussions within closed session on several different things that we could do to help the city’s finances, but we have not voted on anything.”
Wright accused Thomas of trying to tear the new council apart while it is trying to “fix the mess she put us in.”
“For six years she screwed up the city and she needs to keep her mouth shut,” Wright said. “I’m tired of hearing her crap.”
Thomas said the city could lay off every single employee in City Hall and still wouldn’t get close to eliminating the deficit.
“So what is the point of this?” she asked. “What are you trying to accomplish?”
Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf or @DPEduNews.
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