Atwater leaders say city’s toxic reputation driving away top management applicants

Atwater hired a full-time city manager on Monday as members of the City Council and staff said no other administrator would want to work in a city with such a bad reputation.

Interim City Manager Lori Waterman was given the job with a 3-2 vote for her three-year contract. Mayor Jim Price and Councilmember James Vineyard voted “no.”

By all accounts, Waterman is a hard-working employee who is passionate about the city, but some members of the City Council and the public questioned her experience.

Waterman joined the city in 2006, and was working as the interim director of development services before being appointed as deputy city manager on March 26. She’s been interim city manager since April.

Councilmember Cindy Vierra said Waterman is a good hire, saying “there’s nothing fancy” in the contract of $142,239 a year plus benefits, which aligns with the salary schedule’s step two for a city manager.

“It’s very obvious because of our past history, we don’t have the best reputation and what are we going to attract?” she said. “I’m not saying let’s take second best. I don’t find that to be Lori at all.”

Waterman is the city’s sixth top administrator in two years. Multiple city managers have left the city after short stints of enduring abuse from members of the public or elected officials.

Interim Police Chief Drew Bessinger said the city needs to find stability, and Waterman is its best choice. He said a simple Google search of the city of Atwater could scare candidates.

“I don’t know that a lot of highly qualified city managers or assistant city managers would come into the atmosphere as it is now,” he said. “It’s my personal opinion and professional opinion that it’s unfair to put the kind of decisions that have to be made in the next year on an interim city manager.”

Michael Akers, who lives in Merced County and grew up in Atwater, said Waterman does not have the education or experience to run the city. “The qualifications require five years minimum. A bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in public or business administration,” he said.

The city waived its educational requirement in order to hire Waterman. Leaders made a similar move in April when it appointed Sgt. Armando Echevarria to an interim police chief position.

Akers suggested offering the job to one of the multiple people interviewed last year for the position.

All of the candidates who interviewed for the job a year ago have since formally withdrawn their names from consideration, including Graeme Mitchell, who actually agreed to take the job in November before changing his mind two weeks later.

City Attorney Doug White confirmed all previous candidates have since backed out.

“We do not have a single person from that list,” he said. “We’d have to start over again.”

Creighton, Raymond and Vierra each said they believe Waterman has proven herself as a valuable city leader since holding the temporary position.

A number of other members of the public suggested the city should wait until after the election to make a hire, a sentiment echoed by Price and Vineyard.

“I just think we need to stay the course and let her interview with everybody else,” Vineyard said. “If she is the best, she’ll rise to the top just like the cream.”

Price floated the idea to bring Waterman’s hiring to the state’s Joint Legislative Audit Committee, an idea that did not garner support from the council.

“She came to the position by way of default. That’s essentially what happened,” he said.

The Atwater permanent city manager search had been ongoing in different forms since the last city manager, Frank Pietro, retired in Dec. 2016. The council members have butted heads with the council generally split into two camps.

Applicant Scott Bride, who was an interim city manager, withdrew his name from consideration for the permanent job in May 2017, citing a series of “conflicts” and “distractions” that kept the council from handling “serious issues.” He now works for the city of Merced.

Former Merced City Manager John Bramble served as interim in Atwater for about six months last year. Then there was Mitchell, who left before he started.

Embattled former City Manager Art de Werk, who filed a hostile work environment claim on March 19, left after about four months.

Waterman reasserted her commitment to the city, thanking the council for hiring her.

“I’ll do my best to deserve the support of the council members and earn the respect and confidence of the public,” she said. “I’ll continue to do my best for the city.”