Council confident in new city manager selection
Yuba City officials have chosen a new head administrator to lead the city into the future – pending final approval at tonight’s meeting – though their selection does come with some blemishes on his record.
Yuba City announced last week that after a nationwide search that saw 70 people apply, City Council members had decided on Michael Rock to be the permanent replacement of former City Manager Steve Kroeger, who retired earlier this year. Rock has more than 10 years of experience overseeing city operations, according to his Linkedin profile.
Since June 2017, Rock has served as city manager of Santa Paula in Ventura County.
Before that he served in the same capacity for the city of Banning for 20 months, where he was accused of and investigated for meddling in a City Council election. Rock later told the Ventura County Star that the notion he had tampered with the election was “galling” and the incident in question took place after the filing period had closed for the council race, according to a recent article published by the newspaper. He eventually resigned from the position in May 2017.
Rock was hired by the city of Banning after having served as top administrator for the city of Lomita between June 2012 and July 2015. He was fired as city manager in 2015 for undisclosed reasons, the Ventura County Star reported. Prior to that, he served as town manager and director of Public Works for Fairfax.
Yuba City Mayor Shon Harris said council members were made aware of Rock’s work history and were confident after speaking with the applicant that they had found their replacement. “We were aware of it and got his side of things. The executive search firm we hired also looked into it,” Harris said. “When we had closed sessions with Mr. Rock, those two things did come up; questions were asked and we felt they were answered to our satisfaction.”
Harris said council members left their talks feeling confident in Rock’s abilities.
“Someone who has been in that type of public service role for so long is going to get some battle scars along the way,” Harris said. “That’s what happened, but we still felt obligated to ask those questions and go through our due diligence to find the right person.”
Rock could not be reached for comment on Monday.
If approved at tonight’s meeting, Rock is set to start his new position with the city on Sept. 3. His annual base salary will be $205,000, in addition to a vehicle allowance, medical and retirement benefits, and $10,000 for moving expenses.
Tonight’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. and will be at City Hall – 1201 Civic Center Blvd., Yuba City.
Rock received his Master’s degree in public policy and administration from California State University, Sacramento.
“We remain very confident in Mr. Rock’s abilities and his willingness to step up and do the job,” Harris said. “We look forward to working with him.”