CLEARLAKE — The Clearlake City Council approved a contract Thursday for interim city administrator with Joan Phillipe. Phillipe will be available to begin her service with the city on Oct. 24.
The evening”s agenda, which began with a presentation by Interim Chief of Police Craig Clausen, also included items related to the prevention of mussel infestation, proposal of a dog park and response to the Grand Jury.
The contract with Phillipe is for at-will employment for interim city administrator services for six months. Current Interim City Administrator Bob Galusha said the contract includes an evaluation of work performance at the end of three months. “If both the city and employee are happy, a permanent employment contract could be negotiated before the end of this contract,” Galusha stated in his staff report.
Phillipe has significant amount of city management experience, Galusha said. She worked in small cities such as Colusa, Loomis and Colfax. She is currently employed as general manager of Foresthill. “In addition, she worked as the executive director of the California State Sheriff”s Association,” he said.
According to Galusha”s report, Phillipe”s compensation through the contract is $11,267 per month, which equals $65 per hour. In addition, since Phillipe was a Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) employee in the past, the city will provide the city portion of the PERS contribution, which is approximately 12.3 percent of her hourly rate. In addition, as an interim employee the contract allows for up to $2,000 per month for temporary housing, which Galusha said is consistent with previous contracts. The total estimated cost for Phillipe”s position would still be less than what is provided for in the 2011-12 fiscal year budget for the city administrator position, Galusha said.
Clausen provided the council with a brief update concerning police activities in the city. He said two new vehicles were purchased and striped for service. He said the stripping is different than the other patrol vehicles and is favored more by staff. He said the older vehicles will be receiving the new striping with use of donated funds.
Additionally, Clausen said that a rash of commercial burglaries in the city resulted in the arrest of suspects and return of some property. He said the department”s Facebook page is up-and-running and that the Community Oriented Policing program is progressing successfully with two new community watch programs recently established within the city.
Clausen said two of the three newly hired officers are in the final stages of their training. The third, he said, should be on duty within 30 to 60 days.
The council unanimously decided to support a resolution requesting the governor declare a statewide emergency resulting from infestation of zebra and quagga mussels into state water bodies.
Discussion of a proposed dog park resulted in the item being tabled and brought back by February 2012. Concerns addressed included maintenance, liability and costs associated with such a park.
The council approved responses prepared for the Grand Jury. Those responses related directly to the city concern animal control. The Grand Jury recommended that the city use the significant saving achieved by bringing animal control in-house to build its own facility. The response agrees with the recommendation; however, because of severe financial constraints, building a facility is not currently an option.
The Grand Jury recommended that city increase animal control personnel to “offset the 73 percent discrepancy in the number of animals that taken in by city compared to county animal control. Staff disagrees with the percentage statement; however it does agree that ultimate goal is to increase staffing levels as soon as fiscally possible.
Staff also disagrees with the Grand Jury”s statement concerning a high euthanasia rate in the city and that the city should establish a low cost spay/neuter and trap/neuter and release program. “We disagree with the statement Clearlake Animal Control has a high rate of euthanasia. For the 2010-2011 fiscal year the Clearlake Animal Control euthanized eight canines out of 359 for a total percentage of 2.2 percent and euthanized 24 felines out of 181 for a total percentage of 13.5 percent,” staff response states.
Additionally, the staff cited that the council approved $6,200 for Lake County Animal Coalition, which provides for low cost spay and neuter. The response also indicates that while the city would agree with the suggestion of a trap/neuter/release program, it is not currently in the financial situation to implement such a program.
Councilwoman Judy Thein was absent from the meeting.
