Interim city manager promoted after a year

Mayor says that Steve McHarris ‘has been really all aboard’

Milpitas has appointed its second new city manager in two years, and city officials appear hopeful the newest top administrator will be able to confidently lead the city through the uncertain times ahead after a rocky past with previous city managers.

Steve McHarris — who was serving as the interim city manager in Milpitas since the apparent ouster of Julie Edmonds-Mares last year — has been appointed unanimously by the City Council to take on the permanent role.

McHarris is the third person to hold the top administrative position in Milpitas since 2017, and some council members indicated he’s better suited to the job than past man

agers because they feel he has the respect of employees in the city.

“Steve, I must say, is the first city manager where I feel, and this is me, has been really all aboard,” Mayor Rich Tran said at a recent council meeting. “And folks have been all aboard with Mr. McHarris, and I think that’s a big difference for me when folks talk about the different city managers that have come to Milpitas.”

“This is an item that is a long time coming. It comes full circle to a lot of city employees. They look up to you, Steve,” Councilman Anthony Phan said. “I think that is a distinction amongst leadership that this city has not yet seen yet to the level that we are seeing today.”

The council approved a contract for McHarris set to run through June 3, 2022.

McHarris will be paid a base salary of $334,367 per year, plus benefits including a deferred compensation plans and a 401(a) contribution plan, according to a city staff report.

His total annual compensation package is worth $547,117, according to City Attorney Chris Diaz, who presented a staff report to the council about the contract for McHarris.

If the council ever terminates McHarris without cause — as it appeared to do with Edmonds-Mares — the city will be obligated to pay McHarris nine months of severance pay, Diaz said.

“This is a historic moment in Milpitas where culture is changing,” Councilwoman Karina Dominguez said.

McHarris served for three years as Milpitas’ planning and neighborhood services director until April 2015, when he filed a complaint against the city alleging that former City Manager Tom Williams had created “an environment of fear, anxiety and suppression of staff opinion” at City Hall, at times yelling at employees and threatening their jobs.

After leaving Milpitas, McHarris took a job with the city of San Jose, where he served as deputy director of the city’s planning, building and code enforcement department, until he was hired back to Milpitas as a deputy city manager by then-city Manager Edmonds-Mares, who was his former colleague in San Jose.

Edmonds-Mares was hired in early 2018 to replace Williams, who resigned in September 2017 while on paid administrative leave, after having been accused by the city of using public funds to pay private attorney fees and intimidating employees.

Williams later threatened to sue the city and last year wrapped up arbitration seeking more than $2 million in damages from Milpitas, but he ulimately came away with about $1,300.

In its appointment of Edmonds-Mares, as with McHarris, the city similarly touted her as a public servant with decades of experience who would bring a needed steady hand to the city’s leadership.

In May 2019, however, she resigned abruptly without an explanation, following a flurry of closed-session performance evaluations with the City Council.

Although city officials publicly portrayed her departure as a mutual decision with the City Council, city documents revealed by this news organization show she was paid a severance package of nearly $200,000, suggesting she might have been forced out.

She later took a gig with a consulting company frequently hired by the city of Milpitas.

Phan, in congratulating McHarris at the meeting last week, also appeared to take a shot at Williams, who since has taken on the city manager role in his hometown of Millbrae.

“We may have our difficult times and we may appear to be difficult, but under your leadership, we will always be better than Millbrae,” Phan said to McHarris.

McHarris, in accepting his new role, expressed gratitude to city administrators, employees, officials and volunteers. He said he is proud of the way the city has adapted to help residents in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s not just about me. It’s about reaffirming our collective support and appreciation to the city workforce, and the Milpitas community which we serve,” McHarris said of his appointment.

McHarris, before being appointed to the permanent city manager position, was the third person to serve as interim city manager since Williams was placed on leave.

Former Police Chief Steve Pangelinan took over from late May 2017 until he retired in January 2018, and Dianne Thompson, a former city manager fired in Arroyo Grande, assumed the position until Edmonds-Mares arrived.

“This is an item that is a long time coming. It comes full circle to a lot of city employees. They look up to you, Steve ... I think that is a distinction amongst leadership that this city has not yet seen yet to the level that we are seeing today.” — Anthony Phan, Milpitas city councilman