2 DEPUTY CITY MANAGERS HIRED ON TEMPORARY BASIS

Married couple to fill in during National City official’s medical leave

National City has hired former Del Mar City Manager Scott Huth and his wife, Rhonda, as interim deputy city managers amid recent personnel changes within the City Manager’s Office.

The Huths joined the department on March 28 after Assistant City Manager Frank Parra went on a six-month medical leave earlier in the month.

Each was hired on a temporary basis with pay of $90 per hour, according to city records.

They were hired as retiree annuitants, meaning they are retirees who returned to work with a CalPERS employer. Per the California Public Employment Retirement Law, they cannot receive benefits or any other compensation in addition to their hourly pay rate. Additionally, they can only work a maximum of 960 hours per fiscal year.

The couple was referred by a mutual acquaintance of City Manager Brad Raulston, Scott Huth said Wednesday. Before getting hired and at Raulston’s suggestion, they attended a March 24 City Council goal-setting workshop where “the council discussed how they were going to work together and what their priorities were to be worked on this year,” Huth said.

Each is taking on various projects that assist different departments, he said.

“I think, yes, there’s an absence of Frank but, I think, we’re more focused on what the work is, not the position,” he said, adding that he is focused on maintenance and infrastructure improvement projects with the Public Works Department. His wife is working on improving the city’s website and overall communications.

Mayor Ron Morrison said the City Council learned of the Huths’ onboarding when Raulston announced it in one of his weekly bulletins sent to city employees.

He said he is confident the couple, “who have a lot of experience,” will help carry forward projects amid “a very fluid time right now” within the city and personnel changes.

Their hiring came just after Parra’s medical leave and after Raulston announced April 6 that he would begin an administrative leave for personal reasons. Then on Tuesday, the city announced that it had agreed with Raulston to part

ways after several closedsession performance evaluations.

The City Council agreed Tuesday to appoint Armando Vergara as interim city manager while the city considers filling the position permanently.

Huth said he would continue in the temporary role as long as it’s within the hourly limitation “and as long as they need me.”

“What we’re trying to do is come in and support the city with their highest priorities and get things going and get them completed,” he added. “And meanwhile, the city, at the same time, is trying to keep business running.”

The Huths have worked for several cities in San Diego County. Rhonda Huth worked as a management analyst for the cities of San Diego, Coronado and La Mesa. Scott Huth worked as Coronado’s director of public services. He also served as city manager of Del Mar. They also run their consulting firm, Huth and Associates.

Before retiring in 2020, Scott Huth had his employment contract with Del Mar extended in 2018 despite calls by residents to fire him because of a rift at the time. Criticism followed him after his 2017 decision to fire the city’s former chief lifeguard. He had also called for an investigation into the longtime employee, who was accused of falsifying payroll records, using a city credit card for personal use and repeatedly waiving or discounting rental fees for city facilities.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and county District Attorney’s Office did not file criminal charges.