New City Manager Goes to Work in Agoura Hills : Government: Terry Matz faces the challenge of $30-million public works projects. The state threatens to wipe out a $700,000 reserve.

Terry Matz, a 20-year veteran of local government who has earned a reputation for tackling tough fiscal issues and managing redevelopment projects, has begun work as the new city manager.

Matz, 41, replaces Dave Carmany, who left in January to become the city manager of Malibu. City officials said Matz’s experience in addressing budget issues during four years as city manager of Stanton, in Orange County, makes him well-prepared to address fiscal challenges looming in Agoura Hills.

“We are a yuppie, affluent community in many people’s minds, but Sacramento is leveling all cities,” said Louise Rishoff, a City Council member who participated in Matz’s selection.

A proposed move to keep a bigger share of property taxes to support the state government in Sacramento threatens to wipe out a $700,000 general fund reserve, and the city has a $30-million agenda of public works projects that include building and repairing freeway overpasses and bridges.

Matz was chosen from more than 185 applicants for the $84,000-a-year job. Members of the hiring committee said he earned it with his professional experience and his easygoing management style, a trait that fits in with the casual atmosphere in Agoura Hills City Hall. He started his new job May 10.

“He said all the right things, and even complained a little because the city manager’s office was a little bit isolated and he wanted to be closer to the staff,” Rishoff said.

“He is not driven by ego or concerned about power, and he doesn’t wear a (suit) jacket,” she said.

Matz said he is still acquainting himself with the procedures and people in his new assignment. In doing so he will have to adjust to the stark differences between Agoura Hills and Stanton.

Agoura Hills is an affluent, homogenous city of about 20,000 with a median household income of about $70,000, more than double Stanton’s. Its residents are better educated and more than three times as likely to be employed as those in Stanton, according 1990 U. S. Census Bureau data.

Stanton, in contrast, is a blue-collar city of 30,000 residents, nearly one-third Latino, and has struggled to revitalize its deteriorating downtown district and bolster an industrial and service-based economy. The unemployment rate in Stanton in 1990 was 13.6%, according to the census, and Agoura Hills’ was 3.6%.

“It’s true that both cities have unique characteristics,” Matz said. “However, they both have excellent features and are close-knit communities with pride and spirit, and my management approach will be the same. My style won’t change.”

Matz’s first chance to work with the community will come Wednesday, when a Citizens Advisory Committee’s budget report is to be released.

In Stanton, Matz’s departure was viewed as a loss.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Stanton Councilman Joe V. Harris said. “We dedicated ourselves to the job as a team. I’m losing my quarterback.”

Redevelopment in Stanton centered on Beach Boulevard and Katella Avenue, two of the community’s major thoroughfares, Matz said. Pace and Home Base, two large “big box” stores, opened there recently and a new civic center is to open in June, Matz said. Recently, efforts have begun to redevelop industrial areas of the city and to do street improvements.

While in Stanton, Matz was criticized for initiating an unpopular 6% utility user tax for gas, phone and electric service. The tax was expected to generate about $1 million annually to offset the loss of $1.5 million from property tax revenues over the past three years.

Selection committee members in Agoura Hills were particularly impressed with Matz’s ability to navigate the tax proposal through heavy criticism from Stanton residents.

“That tax has triggered recalls in other communities,” Rishoff said. “It is a sensitive issue.”

In addition to the utility tax, Matz instituted a four-day workweek for Stanton’s municipal workers.

He declined to outline specific program proposals for Agoura Hills, saying it was premature.

During his career, Matz worked in recreation and personnel before becoming assistant city manager of Artesia. He was city manager of Blythe for four years before going to work in Stanton.

Matz, who drives from his home in Commerce each day, will soon begin a housing search with his wife Caroline and their 17-year-old son, Joey.

At least twice a month, Matz heads back to Blythe, where he owns a mobile home, and enjoys fishing and relaxing on the banks of the Colorado River.