McClintock offers to retire

Colusa City Manager Jan McClintock has offered to retire at the end of the year, just three days before possibly being fired.

“This letter is to advise the City Council of my intent to retire from the City Manager position at the City of Colusa effective December 31st, 2012,” states the letter to the City Council and dated June 28.

It went out to the council members Friday afternoon.

“If at any time after November 7, 2012, the City Council finds a new permanent City Manager, I will step aside for the new City Manager,” the letter states.

The City Council is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Monday in a special closed session at City Hall. One of the items on the agenda is consideration of terminating McClintock’s contract.

“I will work with the City Council until my retirement to insure a smooth transition to a new City Manager or alternative management structure as the City Council chooses,” McClintock’s letter continued. “Providing this transition will prevent the City from incurring the expense of an interim manager and will allow critical projects to move forward without disruption.”

McClintock also sent a personal letter to Mayor Pat Landreth.

In it, McClintock expressed what appears to be some surprise at the direction toward the possible termination of her contract.

She indicated she thought the council’s intent was “to do a review and then work with me on whatever issues you felt existed,” and added that “everything I did was done with a majority vote by the City Council.”

She said the council had not contacted her prior to the May meeting when those decisions apparently were made.

The letter suggest there are a number of timely issues that need to be addressed, suggested the public turmoil over economic development, her status and related issues have caused “challenges” with some potential investors in the city.

The letter discusses conflicts between some council members about discipline actions she has taken with at least one employee, and issues with a couple of different downtown businesses, and the reasons behind the shift from Old Tyme Christmas to Hometown Christmas.

In each case, McClintock defends her own actions, and urges Landreth to review the issues independently to learn the truth behind what happened.

The letter also indicates she has spoken to a “legal advisor,” but there is no direct suggestion of legal action to come.

And no where in the letter is the controversial contract with economic development consultant Mark Mayuga mentioned.

It does, however, reference a modified agreement linked to her offer, but what that refers to was not absolutely clear in the documents provided to the Colusa County Sun-Herald Friday.

McClintock did not return a call Friday seeking a comment on her employment status, and specifically about Monday’s meeting.

Mayor Pat Landreth said Friday, but prior to McClintock’s announcement, that the city is in “a kind of limbo,” and a decision on the city manager is needed to set a clear direction for the future.

“I don’t think anyone should jump to conclusions,” Landreth said. “But at the same time, we have to make sure we have all our options available to us.”

Landreth said without the termination option listed as a specific agenda item, the council could not consider that as an action.

He said no decision has been made and declined to say whether he believes there is a consensus that has been reached.

Landreth said he wants to hear from every council member one more time.

“I would hope we can reach some kind of decision, and the reason I say that is I don’t want to keep dragging this evaluation process on, and to make sure our employees and everyone knows what is going to happen,” the mayor said.

“It seems we are in a kind of limbo because there are city residents out there making speculations, and city employees making speculations, and we need to get out of that...,” Landreth said.

Landreth is widely considered to be the pivotal vote.
Councilmen Kirk Kelleher and Tom Reische are widely considered to be in favor of termination, and

McClintock’s letter to Landreth does nothing to soften that position.

“I just think it is a critical time to do another evaluation, just because of all the rhetoric that is flying around, and I don’t want to comment beyond that,” Kelleher said on Friday, again before McClintock’s announcement.

“I am hoping that this employee evaluation will bring us all to a conclusion so we can move on.”
Asked about specific concerns he had, Kelleher declined to comment.

The issue has been a source of even more division among the council members in recent days.

It was originally being discussed for a date on which Hosmer and Critchfield could not attend, and the councilwomen said their schedules were a matter of record with the other council members.

And while special meetings can be set for any date with a proper 24-hour notice, Hosmer cannot see the urgency in the matter.

“I question why they are in such a hurry,” Hosmer said Friday prior to McClintock’s announcement.

Clearly the urgency has been heated up a bit now.