Mayor Ben Cantu and others on the City Council see Miranda Lutzow as an agent of change when it comes to altering Manteca’s future.

Critics are questioning whether Lutzow has the expertise to run one of California’s few remaining full service cities that doesn’t contract out any function such as police, garbage collection or water plus has an overall budget of $181.9 million with an excess of 300 employees. They base that on the depth of her resume regarding management positions.

Lutzow was picked as acting city manager in September when the council put Tim Ogden on ice. Lutzow was the city’s human resources manager at the time. She was made interim city manager effective Dec. 31, 2019. The council then two months later on a 4-1 vote with Councilman Dave Breitenbucher dissenting gave Lutzow a 12-month contract through Feb. 4, 2021 to serve as city manager for $240,204. Last week — five weeks after the year-long contract for her to work as interim city manager was signed — Cantu had a new contract brought back before the council. The new contract dropped a reference to being interim, reduces her salary by $6,696 to $233,500, and did not have a set termination date.

City hall critics also believe elected officials are not doing their due diligence in making sure they obtain the best possible city manager by not even conducting a search.

Whether the council is “rushing” into a decision to make Lutzow the permanent city manager just a month into her 12-month contract to serve as interim city manager could becoming a defining issue in the November 2020 election. That’s because among those publically questioning whether the council is acting in haste and “not being prudent:” is a potential council candidate — retired Police Chief Charlie Halford.

Halford, if he opts to run, would be vying for one of two seats currently held by Gary Singh and Debby Moorhead —the only two council members that aren’t retired City of Manteca employees.  Cantu retired after nearly 30 years as a city planner while Breitenbucher retired as a Manteca Fire Department captain.

In a letter sent to Cantu and the rest of the City Council Halford wrote prior to the March 17 council meeting, “I am strongly opposed to the proposed employment contract with the current interim city manager.  There should be a recruitment and job search to ensure that Manteca is hiring the most qualified applicant.  You are doing a disservice to the citizens of Manteca by not conducting recruitment for the City Managers’ position. 

“This employment contract is not needed as you recently approved a generous contract with the interim City Manager.  While it may be legal and you may have the authority to approve this contract, it is simply not the right thing to do or the best for Manteca. 

“In particular it concerning that you are doing this on the consent calendar at a meeting where public participation is limited and the public is consumed by the COVID-19 national emergency. 

“The citizens would be best served by an open recruitment where participation of public could be incorporated in the selection process.”

The council did yank the contract from the consent calendar after technical issues made it difficult for the public to follow council actions. It is not clear when the contract will be brought back before the council for consideration.

What is clear is that Cantu and others on the council believe Lutzow is the right person at the right time to change the direction of the city.

The move to give her permanent status was seen as a way not just to make it clear that they want her as city manager but that they wanted her to put her stamp on city hall by essentially hiring the majority of senior management without having the word “interim” hanging over head.

As one council member noted all city managers are interim given they are at will employees, but the big difference is it sends a clear message to the public, developers, and employees as well as potential department heads who are being interviewed that Lutzow is not a caretaker city manager.

The council has entrusted her to lead efforts for a major reorganization of the city creating more departments in a bid they say to improve the efficient delivery of services and projects they expect to save money in the long run.
As city manager she would hire those positions when the council authorizing funding for them as well as replacing department heads that have left or been terminated after she became acting city manager including the finance department where the interim director is already opting to move on, public works, community development, city clerk, as well as her permanent replacement to oversee human resources. She may also replace Police Chief Jodie Estarziau. Lutzow put Estarziau on leave hours after the city received an anonymous letter that listed a number of allegations of which at least several were quickly disproved in the following days. Nevertheless the city had obtained an outside agency or individual to do additional investigations.

There is no law requiring councils to open up city manager positions to invite qualified candidates to apply. It is, however, considered best practice by several organizations Lutzow is a member of when it comes to human resources and city administration.

However, it is not Lutzow that set the parameters on how to go about finding a permanent replacement for Ogden. That is a decision reserved for the majority of the council.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com