There is no animosity between departing City Manager Tim Ogden and the Manteca City Council.
Ogden on Wednesday made it clear that he “wish(ed) Manteca the best going forward.”
While Ogden’s employment is being officially terminated at the end of the month, it was done after both the council and he agreed to a mutual separation.
Ogden has been on paid administrative leave since September.
It is not uncommon after a major shift in council compositions for city councils to simply decide they want to change the style of how a city is run. The 2018 election marked the first time since the bitter and divisive 1982 recall election that three new members of a Manteca council were seated at one time.
The city manager is the only position other than the city attorney that is directly hired by the council.
The city manager hires all department heads and — as interim City Manager Miranda Ludlow has demonstrated — also decides whether they should continue to be employed.
As Lutzow has pointed out, it is her job as city manager to “implement the vision of the City Council.”
The deal reached by Ogden and the council states that “through December 31, 2019, (the City) Manager shall remain on paid administrative leave status. During this period, (the City) Manager shall be available upon reasonable notice to assist in completion of pending projects or to assist in any other transition activities as requested by the Acting City Manager or designee. . .
“This Agreement and compliance with it shall not operate or be construed as an admission by either Party of any liability, misconduct, or wrongdoing whatsoever against the other or any other person.”
The most significant accomplishment of his 2½ years at the helm of the day-to-day running of the city was successfully nailing down the agreement that brought the $180 million Great Wolf Resort to Manteca after the city almost lost the 500-room hotel to a Bay Area city due to the ineffectiveness of a consulting firm the city hired to market the formerly city owned site west of Costco for an indoor waterpark.
Ogden was also the first city manager to get the county to budge on tax splits that are more favorable to the city when land is annexed and developed. Prior to Ogden’s successful negotiations, new annexations only gave the city 20 percent of every dollar in taxes collected for local services while the county kept 80 percent meaning existing residents were helping underwrite costs to serve new residents. He was able to double Manteca’s share or property taxes to make the county-city split of the 1,301 home Griffin Park development going forward west of South Main Street between Woodward Avenue and Sedan Avenue a 60-40 proposition.
Other highlights include:
*Two consecutive balanced budgets, with savings in overtime, and several programs.
*Nine negotiated union agreements.
*Negotiated a legitimate cost neutral agreement with Manteca Unified School District involving the shared use of facilities.
*Passage of Measure J that increased the hotel tax to 10 percent.
*Establishment of the Manteca Leadership Roundtable and initiatives strengthening relations between the non-profits and interfaith community including implementing Manteca Family Night and the annual city satisfaction survey.
*An Economic Development Plan was crafted in-house and approved, and partly implemented with several downtown strategies underway.
*Two multi-million dollar interchanges were funded, land was acquired, and construction started on one, Animal Services building was purchased instead of renting forever, and Fire Station No. 5 was funded and started.
*Implementation of the citywide wayfinding signs that had languished for a decade.
*Citywide cameras, license plate readers, and public fiber projects were put in motion.
The status of two other senior management team members on paid administrative leave still have yet to be decided. They are Public Works Director Mark Houghton and Police Chief Jodie Estarziau.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
