Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Acting City Manager Larry Perlin took over after Harry Peacock was fired.

Larry Perlin is the guy in the hot seat

By Sarah Lombardo

It's not easy being a temp, especially when you're Larry Perlin and the acting city manager in the middle of a budget crunch.

The Saratoga public works director is in his fourth week as the city's most well-known temporary employee, filling in as city manager in the wake of former manager Harry Peacock's ouster last month. Perlin was appointed acting city manager until an interim or permanent manager can be found. The length of Perlin's time as manager is uncertain, but it doesn't seem to make him uncomfortable.

"I know it's not a permanent thing, so it doesn't really bother me. The fact that it might end at any time isn't really a concern to me," Perlin said. "There is a job that needs to be done, and I know what the job is that has to be done, and I will do my best to see that the job gets done."

Perlin said he intends to concentrate on the city's tasks at hand, and he seems to have his work cut out for him. Wearing two hats as both the public works director and acting city manager and receiving $655 per month extra for it, Perlin is awfully busy these days at his new, however temporary, job.

Before taking over city manager responsibilities in early March, Perlin said he might consider applying for the job permanently if he found he enjoyed it.

"I guess I'm not sure I have interest in the job. One of the things I hope to discover about myself if I get to serve for an extended period of time is whether or not I have an interest in making the jump from the public works track to the administrative city management track," Perlin said in a February interview. "If it turns out I do enjoy it, who knows? Maybe I'll throw my hat into the ring."

And how does he like the job?

"This is my first dose of being the guy in the hot seat, and I am getting it from all sides," Perlin said last week. "It's a tough thing."

Perlin, who left a job with the city of Capitola to work in Saratoga seven years ago, said he enjoys his current job as public works director and might not be willing to give it up to apply for the permanent city manager position.

"A lot of the satisfaction of my job is that I can drive out to the community and see the physical results of what I am doing," Perlin said, "whereas the things that a city manager has to deal with and work on, the results are sometimes less clear."