At the Martinez City Council’s most recent meeting, the council voted on several new issues surrounding comings and goings in the city. First, the council approved an agreement to extend the employment of interim city manager Anna Gwyn Simpson until July 31. The vote was 4-1, with council member Laura DeLaney voting no.
DeLaney explained her reasoning behind her “no” vote, saying that she did not agree with hiring Simpson in the first place, and did not feel comfortable extending her contract. She also expressed concerns about Simpson’s performances considering no performance review has been conducted.
The council also approved an agreement for Jim Jakel to provide part-time city manager duties while Simpson is away. In this agreement, Jakel will serve as part-time interim city manager from July 1st through November 15th. He will be working from 10 to 30 hours per week, depending on how much he is needed. He will be paid an hourly rate of $98.45, which corresponds to the salary of former city manager Phil Vince.
DeLaney also did not agree with the hiring of Jakel in a part-time position, saying that the city’s assistant manager is “very capable of doing the job” and that the city needs a full-time city manager, not a part-time one.
Additionally, Martinez’s Police Chief Gary Peterson officially retired last week after over 26 years of experience with the Martinez Police Department.
Read more about the comings and goings at Martinez here.