Vallejo City Council to discuss interim city manager, litigation cases in closed meeting Tuesday

The Vallejo City Council will discuss new interim and permanent city manager positions in a closed session meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Officials say if a decision is made Tuesday. it will be made without using the usual recruiting process.

According to administrative Analyst with the City of Vallejo’s Manager’s Office Allison Mattioli, “The city manager position could not be publicly discussed at the time due to to a personnel matter,” wrote Mattioli in an email to the Times-Herald. “The city has not yet chosen a recruitment firm or determined a process. Since those two decisions have not yet been made, we don’t have information on timing or potential salary.”

In late August, Vallejo Public Information Officer Christina Lee said that whether or not the city would even use a recruiting agency, let alone one it has used in the past, was undecided.

“This has not been determined yet, but it is very typical for city councils to decide to utilize a recruitment firm for a city manager recruitment,” Lee said in an email in August.

When asked if an interim or permanent city manager would be named since no salary or recruiting process has been decided, Mattioli only said that “the city council does have the authority to appoint an interim without a recruiter in place, so we couldn’t speculate as to what the council may, or may not, determine in closed session since it hasn’t been decided.”

Vallejo is looking for a new city manager after current interim city manager Anne Cardwell said in late August that she would be giving her 45-day notice. At the time Cardwell said that the job was “very challenging in any city — but particularly in Vallejo.” She pointed to “false and negative statements about various city employees” from a vocal opposition “providing inaccurate information” as “demoralizing” staff members.

Cardwell said she enjoyed some of the experience as interim city manager, but also found the job very “challenging.” She has said she has found a new job that is a “good fit” for her. However, at press time Cardwell would not go into further details about this new opportunity —only that “she was leaving Vallejo.”

Cardwell’s last day is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Cardwell’s announcement came just months after former Vallejo City Manager Greg Nyhoff’s resignation. In early July the City of Vallejo agreed to an “approval of a resignation and separation agreement” between the city and the embattled city manager — who had been on a leave of absence.

Earlier this month Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell said in his Mayor’s Message online that “the recruitment of a city manager is by far one of the most important decisions a city council will ever make, and could take “12 to 16 months.”

“We need a city manager who will not be afraid to build trust through meaningful dialogue with the community, the council, and professional staff,” McConnell said in his email. “There is also a need to change our strategy for recruiting. I believe we must involve the community in this process to understand what type of city manager best fits your needs. Our approach needs to be revisionist and collaborative. As we embark on this search for a new city manager for Vallejo, I ask for your patience in this process. Likely, we will not be successful in finding and securing the most appropriate candidate for at least 12-16 months.”

“At this time, we are facing many challenges, challenges that are the nature of the times,” McConnell continued. “All cities are having trouble recruiting qualified applicants for high-level positions that require a degree of expertise in their field. Before the pandemic, cities were highly aware of the “Silver Tsunami,” or the high-rising, fast-approaching wave of retirees from the public sector … The League of California Cities has also seen an uptick in the need to discuss council-city manager relations, as those relationships become more constrained, this is partly due to the additional stress placed on cities to continue operating, particularly in fiscally lean times. In Vallejo, we also have the added challenge of a highly active community. As a community, we need to focus on attacking the idea, project, or result instead of attacking the individual.”

The city also has its hands full with litigation. At the same closed meeting, the city will be advised on how to go forward with 50 cases against the city including high profiled ones such as Willie McCoy (McCoy et al. v. City of Vallejo, et al., United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:19-cv-01191-JAM-CKD) and Sean Monterrosa (Monterrosa, et al. v. City of Vallejo, et al., United States District Court, Eastern
District of California, Case No. 2:20-cv-01563-TLN-DB). McCoy and Monterrosa were both shot by Vallejo Police in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

Just over a year ago, the City of Vallejo agreed to pay $5.7 million to the family of Ronell Foster, who was shot and killed by a Vallejo police officer on Feb. 13, 2018. The officer, Ryan McMahon, originally pulled Foster over for a minor traffic infraction. The $5.7 million given to Foster’s family was nearly double the amount Oscar Grant’s family was given in the suit against BART police in a case where the officer who killed Grant was convicted of manslaughter.

With all the litigation going on against Vallejo, is the city worried it may go bankrupt again?

“The litigation update includes every case that is currently pending in the city, which include both very routine matters, as well as some larger matters that have previously been reported in the press,” Mattioli said. “Most of the cases are covered by insurance, and the city budgets for financial responsibility for any potential claims on an annual basis. Since the cases are subject to attorney/client privilege, we can’t provide any specific information on any of the cases at this time.”

The closed session meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.