CLEARLAKE — The Clearlake City Council took action Friday to appoint an acting city administrator in light of the abrupt resignation of Dale Neiman. Clearlake Police Chief Allan McClain will serve as City Administrator Pro Tempore until such time as a new administrator is selected.
Mayor Judy Thein said that a permanent decision will be made after the new council members are seated on Dec. 9. “This is just temporary,” she said. “When the new council comes on we”ll deal with what to do about the city administrator position.”
Duties of the city administrator have fallen on McClain in the past during times in which Neiman was absent. Councilmember Chuck Leonard indicated that McClain was the logical choice.
“This is just a temporary thing,” Leonard said. “We need somebody who knows the staff in city hall. To me, Allan would be the perfect person to do this.”
The appointment was made on a 5-0 vote count.
In other actions related to the duties served by the city administrator, the council moved to designate McClain as the third signer on commercial bank accounts for the city and the second signer for the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF).
According to City Clerk Melissa Swanson each check written by the city requires two signatures. The mayor and the vice mayor are currently designated signers for commercial bank accounts. She said there needs to be at least three signers designated in case the mayor or vice mayor is unavailable. Swanson is the other designated signer for the LAIF.
Also on Friday, the council decided against participating in the county”s tourism marketing program. It also voted 4-0-1, with Councilman Roy Simons abstaining, to extend the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year Budget of the Redevelopment Agency until the 2010-11 Fiscal Year Budget is adopted.
The council continued an item pertaining to a settlement agreement between the city and Grant and Marilyn Meyer. The item was continued to Dec. 9 to allow Attorney Robert Riggs, who volunteered his legal services at no charge to the city, an opportunity to review the case and potential settlement agreement to evaluate any assistance he may be able to provide.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
