Oxnard Council approves contract for new City Manager Greg Nyhoff

New Oxnard City Manager Greg Nyhoff

By George Miller

On Tuesday night, in one of the most important decisions of the year (see previous CJ article), the Oxnard City Council approved a contract to engage Greg Nyhoff as the new City Manager. He held a similar position in Modesto. It was a 4-1 vote, with Councilman Perello strongly dissenting on contractual terms and on the candidate, too. Perello provided a summary of an audit of Modesto Public Works, citing poor leadership, poor organizational skills and more, which he said was ultimately Nyhoff’s responsibility.

Some members of the public strongly objected to what they thought was lavish compensation and fringes, which total an estimated $362 thousand annually. Perello and others felt that the compensation was far too high compared to the average income of residents.  The council had previously researched what other cities are paying, which Mayor Pro-tem Ramirez again cited, as being in line with the contract offer. Other Council members, except Perello, concurred.

The Council, especially Mayor Flynn, has repeatedly expressed the desire for performance-based objectives and management, but the contract was totally lacking in performance-based compensation and criteria. In a strongly worded letter of protest and orally, Perello pointed out lack of a performance evaluation process and a contractual clause that called for mutual agreement on objectives, which he asserted gave Nyhoff veto power over the council’s requirements for the candidate. Mayor Flynn maintained that Nyhoff would work in good faith with the council for reasonable objectives and that he would be “a tremendous asset to the city.” Perello also objected to what he said were excessive compensation and  lack of a trial period. He said this contract could subject the city to some of the same things that happened under the Sotello’s (previous City Manager) contract.  After problems came up, Sotello was placed on paid administrative leave for the duration of his contract and Karen Burnham was installed as Interim City Manager. Sotello later litigated for $1 million.

A comparative analysis of compensation packages, per Oxnard Finance Director James Cameron:

 Item                      Nyhoff                                    Sotello                                 Burnham

Total comp     $332,048                               $417,373                               $310,594

Base                   $265,000                              $283,196                                $229,406

The biggest differences were the base salary and Nyhoff will contribute 7% toward his pension plan, a contract term that the city hopes to eventually roll out to other employee comp. plans.

Since there are some differences in how comp. plans are accounted for, Nyhoff’s total plan value would be $362,602 before applying State Comptroller criteria.

Not a single speaker challenged Mr. Nyhoff qualifications or experience.  He has a long record of experience and job stability, having set down roots in Modesto.  Modesto is not happy about losing Nyhoff: 

Our View: Loss of Modesto city manager Nyhoff a big blow …

The council members were willing to discuss their differences with Councilman Perello and the public and even admit some deficiencies in the process and the resulting contract, but were ultimately unwilling to change it and voted to approve it.  Flynn claimed that this was promised to Nyhoff, that they couldn’t go back on the commitment and that in any case it would result in “delays.”   To Perello’s credit, he accepted the council vote and agreed to work with Nyhoff and the council for success.  The selection process has been controversial, debated and contentious .

Ms. Burnham is to return to her previous position as Assistant City Manager.

Also covered at the meeting were the Oxnard Public Access Channel draft Request for Proposal and a longstanding feud over parking, noise and public intoxication at and around the Rodeo Community Center, a public assembly facility business.

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George Miller is Publisher of Citizensjournal.us and a “retired” operations management consultant, active in civic affairs, living in Oxnard.

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