- In this video, Michele Martinez says interim city manager job is too much for one person to handle
- California City city council approves, 3-2, to add a new deputy city manager.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There's an update for the city manager situation in California City, but it doesn't involve a permanent city manager just yet.
I'm Steve Virgen, your Cal City neighborhood reporter.
The latest is the need for more help there was recent approval to add a deputy city manager.
"In most cities, a city manager has a secretary. I don't have one. I don't have an assistant. And so I'm pretty much taking on the entire city by myself," said Michele Martinez, California City's interim city manager
Within two weeks of becoming Cal City's interim city manager, Martinez says she realized the job was too much for one person.
The desert town's myriad of issues has caused her to put in 10-hour days and a couple of seven-day work weeks.
She says it's no wonder the city manager has been a revolving door in Cal City.
She is now the seventh city manager within the past two years in Cal City.
"I can't do all the work that is needed nor can the city or the staff of the mayor or council expect one person to help move the city forward, especially with the wicked challenges that it faces," Martinez said.
Martinez proposed a deputy city manager a few weeks ago.
The council passed it, barely, by a vote of 3-to-2, with an annual salary between 140-and-170 thousand dollars.
"Even though it's a cost to the city, I think it's a saving that we're going to be able to take because it's a process improvement not putting everything in chaos. We're trying to put the city in order," said Kelly Kulikoff, the California City Mayor.
Kulikoff added that he wants to have a permanent city manager in place within the next couple months. Martinez is in the running for that position.
"The challenges are not easy. But it takes more than one person to grapple with all of that information. And you have fairly new staff that haven't been on board for quite a long time for Cal City and so it's going to be imperative to have that assistance," Martinez said.
Mayor Kulikoff is hoping to have a new deputy city manager by the end of next week or soon after.
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