Former Los Banos city manager hired by another Valley city to fill interim leadership role

The Ceres City Council on Monday hired former Los Banos administrator Alex Terrazas as interim city manager while recruiting to fill the position on a permanent basis.

Terrazas began working Tuesday, taking over for former City Manager Tom Westbrook, who ended his 20 years working for Ceres on Monday.

Terrazas was terminated by the Los Banos City Council in March. Los Banos Police Chief Gary Brizzee was been appointed to act as interim city manager.

The Ceres City Council approved Terrazas’s employment agreement by a 3-0 vote, with Council Member Couper Condit absent.

Council Member Linda Ryno said she planned to vote against appointing Terrazas, but recognized Ceres would lack a chief administrative officer if she opposed the resolution. Ordinances, resolutions and spending funds require three affirmative votes, City Attorney Tom Hallinan said.

“Even though Mr. Terrazas may be qualified, I thought one of the other candidates that we interviewed was better suited for our organization,” Ryno said during the meeting. “But seeing that there are only three of us, we would not have a city manager.”

Terrazas brings 27 years of municipal government experience, including working as the assistant town manager of Truckee for 15 years. He most recently served as the Los Banos City Manager for nearly five years before signing a separation agreement on March 22. His contract would have expired June 30, per Los Banos meeting minutes.

To avoid potential litigation, Los Banos issued Terrazas a separation payment of about $60,000, equal to three-and-a-half months’ salary. Los Banos also agreed to continue Terrazas’s health insurance benefits through the end of June, per the separation agreement The Bee obtained via a public records request.

Neither the council nor members of the public during the meeting raised concerns about Terrazas’s termination and subsequent retirement on March 24. Mayor Javier Lopez previously told The Bee he saw no red flags in the mutual decision to end the contract early.

Terrazas aims to work with the council, staff and community while they search for a permanent city manager and is commuting from Los Banos, he told The Bee on Tuesday. Terrazas cannot work more than 960 hours in a fiscal year as a retiree of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, per the employment agreement.

“It looked like a great opportunity to work with a great community and I thought I could assist the city in this transitional period,” Terrazas said of his decision to apply for the job.

Before working for Truckee, Terrazas said, he worked for Mountain View as a senior administrative analyst and assistant to the city manager. He previously worked for the League of California Cities.

Ceres contracts recruiting firm

The council on Monday also approved an about $33,000 contract with Wendi Brown Creative Partners to recruit a city manager in 14 weeks. Half of the recruitment funding comes from the general fund, while the water and sewer funds cover the rest.

If the appointed city manager leaves for any reason in the first two years, the firm also agreed to provide services to recruit a replacement at no additional cost.

Westbrook worked the position for 16 months and resigned to accept a job in his hometown, Red Bluff. Ceres initially announced Westbrook would serve as interim city manager after Toby Wells left in April 2020, but the city council offered the job to him on a permanent basis. Wells had served as city manager for six years.

The council on Monday additionally filled a position that had been vacant since Westbrook’s promotion to city manager. Officials appointed Christopher Hoem, who has worked for Santa Clara County, as community development director.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 12:15 PM.