The City Council directed staff Thursday night to start searching for a new interim executive immediately to replace Marcia Raines, who will be leaving the city within 30 days to start as the new city manager of Millbrae.
“We’re looking to bring an individual on board as soon as we find the right individual,” said Mayor John Muller. “We’re going to look for the strongest leader we can find.”
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Raines announced her resignation at the City Council meeting the night of Dec. 16. It came as a surprise in Half Moon Bay and leaves a void at the top just as an $18 million Beachwood debt threatens to drastically alter city operations for years to come.
“I’ve been here two years, and I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplish,” she said. “I’ve set a course for solving the problems here in Half Moon Bay.” She says she has a plan for making $920,000 in cuts to meet a deficit caused by a revenue shortfall in the last fiscal year, and that those cuts are in the hands of the city’s finance subcommittee.
After the announcement, she said she has accomplished a number of her goals for Half Moon Bay — including securing a $5 million settlement over Beachwood litigation insurance — and disagreed with the notion that she was leaving the city in a lurch in the middle of a crisis.
She said the bond plan — to bail out the city from a looming $18 million Beachwood pay out — will be her priority for the next 30 days.
“There will be no power vacuum,” she said. “I think the team we have is solid. They don’t need me to work on (Beachwood). I’m just one member of that team.”
The mayor agreed with Raines, saying Half Moon Bay will be able to make a smooth transition to a new manager.
“We have a good team in place right now,” he said. “We’re going to continue to move with this team to bring the new city manager on board.”
Millbrae Mayor Robert Gottschalk says that Raines was selected out of 43 applicants for the city manager position there. Millbrae council members have been looking to fill the position since September.
“We needed someone who had a broad background in finance, community development, labor negotiations, problem solving and leadership,” Gottschalk said. “We felt she had the background we wanted.”
The Millbrae mayor says Raines will be paid about $193,000, plus benefits — roughly equivalent to her increased salary of $192,516 approved by the City Council last month.
Gottschalk says his town has lacked an executive since its former manager left months ago to be with family in Nevada.
“No city likes losing a talented and respected city manager,” he said. “It’s always inconvenient.”
Raines’ departure means the city is looking to fill its top position for the fourth time in the last six years.
Turnaround among the city executives has been an ongoing problem for Half Moon Bay. Three city departments are currently headed by interim directors, and several intermediary positions, such as the city senior planner and deputy manager, remain unfilled.
Megan Taylor, spokeswoman of the League of California Cities says that qualified public servants and managers are in high demand among cities statewide right now. Taylor says that the problem is, in part, due to the retirement of talented government officials from the baby boomer generation.
“The boomers are retired, and for a long period in our country there was perception that government isn’t where you want to put your time and energy,” Taylor said. “So you had Generation X that didn’t look at public service as a viable career opportunity, but I think that’s changing.”
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