Ventura Looks Outside for Interim City Manager

With its city manager leaving July 1, Ventura will look outside City Hall for an interim administrator to serve in the top post until the City Council picks a permanent replacement, Councilman Jack Tingstrom said Monday night.

Initially, council members said they would ask Ventura’s four department heads about standing in as temporary city manager. However, Police Chief Richard Thomas and Public Works Director Ron Calkins said they did not want the job.

Terry Adelman, the city’s director of management resources, and Community Service Director Everett Millais both turned down the opportunity when they learned they would not be eligible to compete for the position of permanent city manager if they assumed the job in the short term, Tingstrom said.

Council members have said they do not want the person who serves as interim city manager to apply for the permanent position, because it would appear to other hopefuls that a favorite was already in place, discouraging applicants from outside the city.

A Los Angeles-based firm has been hired to look for a permanent replacement for City Manager John Baker, who announced his retirement last month.