Pomona City Council OKs Interim City Administrator

Seeking to waste little time putting city government on a different course, the City Council’s new majority selected an interim city administrator last week after one 20-minute interview.

Andrew Lazzaretto Jr., former city administrator of Burbank and now a city redevelopment consultant, was appointed by the council in a 3-to-1 vote in closed session Tuesday.

The vote split along the same lines as the council’s May 1 decision to fire City Administrator A. J. Wilson. Council members C. L. (Clay) Bryant, Nell Soto and Tomas Ursua formed the majority, while Mayor Donna Smith was the lone dissenter. Councilman Mark Nymeyer was absent from both votes.

The council arranged to have Lazzaretto interview for the job after Soto suggested him during a discussion at Monday’s council meeting. After a brief question-and-answer session, the council majority members decided they had found their man.

“We’re looking at a different bird,” Bryant said. “This man will not make end runs on the council . . . His whole career, he’s made a habit out of going to cities where there’s problems and cleaning them up. This guy’s had some tough chores and fulfilled them. Neither Wilson nor any of (his predecessors) could say that.”

Mayor Displeased

But to Smith, the hiring of Lazzaretto was “too quick, too smooth, too easy.” The mayor said she suggested that the council contact the League of California Cities to get a list of retired city managers who are available for interim positions. From that list, the council could cull a group to interview, she said.

“I didn’t want to hire the first Tom, Dick, Harry or Andrew who walked in the door,” Smith said. “We didn’t have any time to check his background or really ask him any questions other than when he could start, how many hours a week he could work and what salary he required.”

Bryant said a lengthy search process was less important than finding an administrator to guide the city staff in a new direction and implement the council’s directives.

“We want somebody to take the wheel while we’re looking for a permanent city administrator,” Bryant said. “We also want to make quite clear to the people of Pomona that Wilson is not coming back.”

Ongoing Dispute

Lazzaretto said he wasn’t aware of the dispute between Smith and Bryant and didn’t intend to get involved in it. He said that, during his interview, he had asked the council for a unanimous vote in favor of hiring him, but this was not a prerequisite to his taking the job.

“I think every manager in the world would like to have a unanimous council,” he said. “But I think it’s more important for the City Council to discuss the issues and vote their consciences, and that’s not always going to (be) unanimous.”

Under an agreement tentatively worked out with the council, Lazzaretto will receive $7,000 a month to work at least four hours a day, five days a week, plus council meetings. Smith questioned the deal, noting that the council majority had complained about Wilson’s approximately $125,000 annual salary and his part-time work schedule.

“It is, I feel, ironic that we would be hiring a part-time interim with a salary comparable to Mr. Wilson’s when that was one of the reasons cited for dismissing Mr. Wilson,” she said.

Bryant, however, stressed that Lazzaretto will be in his City Hall office five days a week, unlike Wilson. “With Wilson we were lucky if we got him three days a week,” he said. He added that he believes the city will almost make up the salary in cost savings Lazzaretto is expected to implement.

The council has not decided how it will go about finding a new city administrator.

Bryant said he does not believe the council should hire an executive search firm, such as the one that had suggested Wilson among a pool of applicants. Instead, he suggested the city simply run ads for the position and take applications until it finds a strong candidate. He added that Lazzaretto might be retained permanently.

“I’d like to give him a chance to show what he can do,” Bryant said. “If he’s as good as I think he would be, I’d like him to stay.”

Lazzaretto said he did not take the Pomona job with the intention of staying permanently but would not rule out the possibility either.