Seal Beach : Interim City Manager Interviews Planned

Council members plan to interview two candidates Thursday for the position of interim city manager in hopes of finding a temporary replacement before City Manager Jerry L. Bankston leaves on June 30.

Bankston, 49, is leaving after four years in Seal Beach to become city manager of La Habra. The need for a quick decision is paramount, according to Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings, because the city has to review the Bixby Ranch Co.’s proposed 223-home development near the Old Ranch Country Club.

The first of three scheduled Planning Commission hearings on the proposed Bixby development begins at 7:30 tonight in City Council chambers. Two additional hearings are planned June 14 and 21. The Bixby Co.’s Old Ranch Development plan calls for the construction of 223 homes, a hotel and restaurant.

The interim city manager is expected to serve from three to six months during the city’s search for a permanent replacement. The two candidates are former city managers who are now retired, according to Hastings.

“This comes at a critical time,” Hastings said. “We’re going to have to have a city manager who can come in and really study the city’s situation with Jerry Bankston before he leaves.”

The Bixby plan is the first major development proposed for the city since the Mola Development Corp.’s Hellman Ranch project. A majority of residents voted against that project in 1991 after five years of debate and court challenges.

The Old Ranch proposal has generated opposition from some residents who say it would create a traffic overload on city streets. The Bixby Co. has offered $1 million for traffic improvements.