DANA POINT : New City Manager Gets 3-Year Contract

Stephen B. Julian, the former city manager of San Juan Capistrano, was recently granted a three-year contract as the new city manager of Dana Point.

The City Council voted 4-1 on Dec. 14 to give Julian, who has been the city’s interim manager for three months, a three-year contract that will pay him $99,500 annually plus benefits, a total package worth more than $150,000 a year.

The council majority approved the hiring of Julian and the contract without comment.

“He is a mature, strong, experienced manager,” said Councilwoman Eileen Krause after the meeting. “I think he will bring some stability to the city.”

Among the contract’s stipulations are $10,000 annually in deferred compensation, a $6,000 annual car allowance, 29 days a year of paid vacation, 10 paid holidays and an estimated $15,000 a year for retirement.

Julian also will receive about $42,000 in severance pay if he is fired before the termination of the contract.

Mayor Pro Tem William L. Ossenmacher abstained from the vote on hiring Julian and voted against the contract. He said this week he was still “not convinced Julian was the right man for the job.”

“Based on what we have seen in the past three months, I’m not convinced,” Ossenmacher said. “On the other hand, I’m not convinced he’s not the right man, either.

“I just think that salary is too rich,” Ossenmacher said, adding that no other applicants were given a chance at competing for the job in the city of about 30,000.

The council hired Julian as an interim manager in August and, since that time, has not sought other applicants.

Julian, a resident of San Juan Capistrano, has 27 years of experience as a city manager in the cities of Banning, San Juan Capistrano and Stanton. He replaced former City Manager David Elbaum, who resigned last July after complaining of problems communicating with the council.

Julian said his contract, which contains a clause requiring 30 days’ notice for leaving his job, pays him slightly more than Elbaum, but less than the 4-year-old city’s first manager, William O. Talley.

His vacation time is in line for managers with his length of experience and his expense account “actually saves the city money” since every expense he incurs--from charity golf tournaments to association dues--must come out of that allotment, Julian said.

Ossenmacher said he preferred the expenses be reimbursed on an individual basis.

“A city should reimburse somebody for expenses, but not like this,” Ossenmacher said. The hiring of Julian was effective immediately.