Fillmore City Finance Director and City Manager, Barbara Smith, tendered her letter of retirement to the city council this week. She is retiring after 23 years with the city because of the “hostile environment” brought in by the new council members and recently appointed Mayor Patti Walker. Smith is the fourth top management member to leave office in the last two months.

The Fillmore City Council met on Tuesday, April 14, 2009. Council Member Steve Conaway was absent. The Council sat with the Senior Center Board, discussed the turnover rate and employee morale at City Hall, and heard an update on possible soil contamination at the Heritage Valley Parks Specific Plan area. The City will hold a Goal Setting Workshop during the Special Meeting on April 22nd.

The resignation of Finance Director Barbara Smith was not discussed publicly at meeting, however The Gazette received an announcement from Mayor Patti Walker concerning Smith’s announced departure: “On April 14, Finance Director Barbara Smith forwarded to me and City Attorney, Ted Schneider, by email her notice of retirement. Ms. Smith indicated in her notice that she has been advised by the pension representative that her remaining until July 1 would bring no additional retirement benefit to her. As a result, May 14, 2009, will be her final day with the city. Ms. Smith has also indicated that she values her privacy and has requested that there not be any public honor or acknowledgment of her 23 years of service.

As Mayor, and on behalf of the City Council, well wishes and heartfelt thanks are extended to Barbara for her work, service and support she has extended to the council and community of Fillmore. Patti Walker, Mayor.” The Gazette wishes Ms. Smith all the best.

The meeting began with a joint session with the Senior Center Board. The Board and Council discussed their mutual responsibilities, and reviewed the Senior Center Budget. The Board will cooperate with Facilities Supervisor Annette Cardona to allot time for the seniors to play cards at the Senior Center, which is often used by Parks and Recreation programs in the afternoons and evenings. The Council approved use of the Senior Center even when not staffed by a full-time City employee, and will look into obtaining computer donations to improve the computer program.

The Ventura County Environmental Health Department recently sent a letter to Fillmore and Griffin Industries rejecting Griffin’s March 2009 application for a voluntary clean-up permit as incomplete. In mid-2008, Griffin discovered smelly gray soil during the grading for the Pole Creek Debris Basin at the Heritage Valley Development site. Later that summer, the County found 50 oil drums supposedly from the 1940s buried in the same general area. It was unclear whether the gray soil was contaminated, the level of contamination, and the cause of contamination. Possible causes include the Texaco contamination plume from the adjacent superfund site, and an old Ultramar gas station. Interim City Manager Bill Bartels explained that the City does yet have specific contamination analysis and the County will not take the lead until the clean-up project has been defined.

William Hass, who has analyzed soil and water samples from the area, explained that only the northern edge and northeastern corner of the site are affected, and contamination levels are too low to cause concern. Gasoline is present at less than 10 parts per million (ppm), and diesel is present at less than 400 ppm, according to Hass. He said the threshold for significance is 100 ppm of gasoline or 1000 ppm of diesel. City staff and Griffin have a meeting with the County agency on April 23rd to clarify application requirements, and set a timeline for verifying Griffin’s studies and finishing clean-up.

Mayor Patti Walker presented a proclamation to Norma Gutierrez on behalf of the Council declaring April 2009 “DMV/Donate Life California Month” to emphasize the importance of organ, tissue, blood, and bone marrow donations.

The Council amended the Human Resources Officer Job Description and reallocated funds for that position. The HR Officer retired in 2005, and the position was split between the City Manager and Adminstrative Assistant. Angela Mumme has been unofficially filling that role since Tom Ristau quit, and will continue to do so. The Adminstrative Assistant position will remain vacant until after budget deliberations.

The Council granted National High School Skateboard Association President Jeffrey Stern’s request to hold a competition at the new Skate Park on May 9, 2009. Public skateboarding will be prohibited at the park during practice (from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.) and during the competition itself (from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.). Competitors will be required to wear helmets.

The Council has offered Larry Pennell, who had been City Manager for Wasco in Kern County, a position as Transitional City Manager. Pennell would work 30 hours per week at $110 per hour with a $100 per diem for three days each week. He will be responsible for finding a permanent City Manager, and his position will be limited to 800 hours or six months, whichever comes first.

The Council and City staff engaged in a fervent discussion regarding this year’s rate of turnover at City Hall after Public Works Director Bert Rapp and Community Development Director Kevin McSweeney requested contracts. Interim City Manager Bill Bartels said that their requests were premature in light of the continuing turnover at the City Manager level. City Attorney Ted Schneider noted that while the Council does not have direct authority over City employees, it can direct the City Manager to enter contracts.

McSweeney does not currently have a contract, and said that he is looking for assurances that he will not be bullied out. McSweeney is an at-will employee, which means that he can be terminated without cause. He said that he wants to stay at City Hall. McSweeney said he has worked in Fillmore for over 15 years, has poured his heart and soul into the City, and is proud of his accomplishments here. He explained that recently he has been receiving more hostile questions from the public in the wake of unpopular decisions required by his position, and that the community is branding him as an apathetic bureaucrat from out-of-town.

Rapp’s current contract is set to expire in one year, and Rapp said that he needed to know the Council’s intentions in case he needs to start a job search which could take many months. His current contract provides that if he is terminated without cause, he will receive twelve months of salary and benefits. The contract he proposed would last longer, but according to Rapp would be cost-neutral, and would protect the City by considering an economic crisis cause for termination. He explained that other City Councils had circumvented the City Manager’s right to hire and fire by de-funding positions during the budget process. He also said contracts like his were common practice for cities.

The Council decided that although technically the Council has the right to approve or reject contracts, the job of deciding whether or not to retain employees belongs to the City Manager. Council Member Jamey Brooks called both employees talented, and said that he wanted to retain them, but was unwilling to enter into contracts without involving a permanent City Manager in the decision process. He specifically characterized McSweeney’s work and character as “good”. Council Member Laurie Hernandez asserted that no one had been fired under the new Council, but some had resigned of their own will. She loudly demanded that McSweeney name his critics, especially if any of them were Council Members inappropriately making him feel uncomfortable. She appreciates the work City staff does, but does not want to guarantee any jobs. Council Member Gail Walker said that although there will always be controversy and disagreements between various Council members and staff, that is irrelevant to staff’s quality of work, which she appreciates. She referred to concerns over job security at City Hall as unnecessary hysteria. Brooks said that when the budget comes under review, he will discuss salary reductions, because he believes Fillmore cannot afford to match other cities’ salaries, and he ran for office on that platform, but implied that de-funding positions was not part of his plan. Mayor Patti Walker spoke of the importance of City Staff to the Council, indicated that the Council wants City Hall to stabilize, and said she cannot control public opinion, but hopes staff will muster on and realize that the Council appreciates them even without contracts.