Saratoga News

Deborah Larson (right); Larry Perlin (left).

Council creates 'temporary' position for Deborah Larson

Interim director plans to work pro bono

Perlin wants to reorganize

By Sarah Lombardo

In a move that got mixed reactions from city staffers, City Manager Larry Perlin and the Saratoga City Council announced Jan. 27 that interim administrative services director Deborah Larson had been appointed temporary assistant city manager--a newly created position. The action was taken in a closed session of the council.

The announcement came at the same meeting in which Perlin surprised the council with a proposal to restructure the city staff, less than a year after a complete reorganization in the wake of budget cuts.

Larson was hired by the city last November to replace former administrative services director Thomas Fil, who resigned to take a job with the city of Belmont. Her contract with the city was scheduled to end at the end of the month unless she and the city agreed to continue it. According to Perlin, Larson said she did not wish to continue the contract and gave notice mid-January. But she did approach Perlin with a proposal in which she would be named assistant city manager on a temporary basis, and, essentially, for free.

Larson, who has been paid an average of $7,500 a month for her work with the city, will only be reimbursed for on-the-job expenses under the new plan, Perlin said.

In exchange, "her primary responsibility will be for work that needs to be done to get us through this transitional period," he said. Included in that, Perlin said, will be spearheading the recruitment of new employees, reviewing the budget and training new employees once they are hired.

It's an arrangement that some councilmembers called ideal for the cash-strapped city. "I think our first reaction was basically that it was too good to be true," Vice Mayor Jim Shaw said.

Shaw stressed, however, that the position was only temporary, and one that the city would not have once Larson had helped the city complete its transition.

"We don't plan to have [an assistant city manager] on a permanent basis," he said. Shaw speculated that the reason Larson had made such a generous proposal was that the experience would be a good addition to her résumé.

But it could not be confirmed that this was her motivation as Larson did not return calls to the Saratoga News.

Shaw also said that the appointment does not indicate that the council does not have faith in Perlin.

"She didn't propose this in a vacuum," Shaw said. "She went to Larry with this."

But Perlin said he is aware that some may think that is the reason behind the creation of a temporary assistant city manager, and said it is a perception he doesn't want to waste time worrying about.

But does it indicate that Perlin, who is still the city's community environment director until a replacement can be found, needs help?

"Absolutely," he said.

Employee reaction to the news of the appointment and the proposed re-reorganization varies. Some said they believe it will help, taking pressure off Perlin and fixing what some said was a bad reorganization in the first place. Other city staffers said Larson's appointment indicates that the dust has still not settled after last year's changes, and it leaves some wondering what will happen next.

Staffers have been stretched thin since the city reduced its number of employees from almost 55 to 48 in the wake of last year's repeal of the utility-users tax. At the same time, a number of employees have resigned, and their positions have been left empty or been changed; the city has sought a new city manager, the administrative services director has resigned, a new and unfamiliar com-puter system has been installed, and responsibilities have shifted as the city deals with less money in its budget.

Perlin said his proposal recognizes the stress that employees feel. "It's designed to address what I believe is the No. 1 concern here, and that is to provide more workers to take care of the daily function of the city," he said.

The reorganization calls for management-level staff to be reduced by almost one full-time position, and for non-management staff to be increased by 1.6 full-time-equivalent positions.

Although councilmembers said they liked the plan, they requested that it be sent to the city Finance Advisory Commission for review. Perlin, however, said he didn't think the city had time to wait for the plan to go from the council to the commission and back to the council again.

"I cannot stress enough that we cannot continue to operate at the current level," he told the council.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]