Choice for city clerk mum on taking job
After councilors hash out contract terms, Webber’s choice does not commit
A drawn-out and sometimes acrimonious City Council meeting over the contract terms for a new city clerk ended Monday night with no certainty Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic would accept the position.
Bustos-Mihelcic — who attended the online meeting but did not speak — declined to comment Tuesday.
Following an executive session that lasted nearly 2½ hours, City Councilors JoAnne Vigil Coppler and Michael Garcia introduced several amendments to a proposed contract, including decreases in salary and alterations to severance pay.
After the alterations, Bustos-Mihelcic would be paid $111,320 for the one-year contract if she accepted the job.
The city announced in late December that Bustos-Mihelcic had been chosen by Mayor Alan Webber for the clerk’s position following the retirement of Yolanda Vigil. Bustos-Mihelcic also was tapped to be the director of the new Office of Public Engagement.
Bustos-Mihelcic currently serves as the city’s first director of Constituent and Council Services.
During Monday’s meeting, Webber said he felt the open debate over the contract — which included discussion over whether a loophole was left open that would allow the clerk to collect severance pay if he or she were asked to resign by the mayor — “disrespectful” and not in the spirit of good public service.
“If there is anything going in America right now it is a lack of trust in the public sector and when we suggest that the mayor would do something like fire someone in the last weeks or months of his term to financially reward someone, that reinforces a very cynical view of public service,” Webber said.
Webber said that although he voted
for the amended contract, he felt the dialogue “diminished the honor and nobility of public service by attempting to haggle with her over something that is deeply earned by her performance.”
The contract was ultimately unanimously approved following the amendments, but its acceptance is up to Bustos-Mihelcic.
Earlier, when the meeting returned to open session, Vigil Coppler introduced an amendment which sought to decrease the contract’s annual salary provision by approximately $4,000.
In September, the city voted 6-3 to approve a plan to reorganize city departments under three overarching offices — the Office of Public Engagement, the Office of Public Health and Safety and the Office of Community Development.
Garcia questioned whether there was a job description for the new clerk’s role available for the City Council to read prior to voting on the salary amendment.
Human Resources Director Bernadette Salazar said a draft description for the position with increased duties was being worked on. However, it was not provided to councilors. Garcia asked why it was not shared prior to the meeting, to which Webber said there has been ample discussion what the duties of the candidate would be.
“We had asked if there was a job description, but there was none,” Garcia said. “Now are hearing that there was a draft description that was being worked on. That is completely opposite of what we were told. I find it completely disappointing that it is unfolding like this.”
Webber outlined a list of responsibilities under the city’s reorganization proposal, including bringing public and media communication, crisis and issues management and civic engagement into the City’s Clerk’s Office while continuing to support election management.
“You didn’t get a piece of paper with them, but we have been discussing them now for nigh-on three hours,” Webber said.
Councilor Chris Rivera asked if he could hear from Bustos-Mihelcic on what she thought of the salary amendment, but Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth interjected and said she felt the direction of the discourse was inappropriate. Webber agreed, noting he felt that having Bustos-Mihelcic discuss how she felt about the salary amendment in a public setting was similar to a public salary negotiation.
The amendment to alter the salary provision was approved by a 5-4 vote.
Garcia introduced an amendment that added language to the contract that would bar the clerk from receiving severance pay if he or she were asked by the mayor to resign during a lame duck period following Election Day. It was a hypothetical question about what would happen if Webber were to lose a potential bid for reelection.
Webber has not said whether he will run in November.
After another long discussion over the severance provision, the council passed Garcia’s amendment by a 5-4 vote.
The city’s human resources director, Bernadette Salazar, said there are only three positions in city government that have a severance package: the city clerk, city manager and city attorney.
Following the vote to adopt the amended contract, Garcia said that he wanted to make it clear that he had great respect for Mihelcic and that he believed that if she accepted the contract she would be a strong city clerk.
Webber, while discussing his vote, said he did not agree with the amendments.