Monterey' new City Manager Mike McCarthy has been busy hiring top city officials, filling a long-vacant finance director slot and promoting Hans Uslar to second in command, as assistant city manager.
To fill Uslar's old role of Deputy City Manager of Plans and Public Works, McCarthy has hired retired Col. Danial "Dino" Pick, who just recently was in the running for the city manager job himself.
"I did get to know Dino during the [hiring] process and was so impressed with him, when I had the opportunity to hire him in a different capacity, I jumped on it," McCarthy says. (The two weren't in fact in competition for the top job, since McCarthy didn't throw his hat in the ring until after City Council failed to agree on a compensation package for Pick and he dropped out of the running.)
Pick retired on April 18 after four years as commandant of the Defense Language Institute.
One of his tasks in his new city job will be managing the relationship between the city and its military installations, including DLI and the Naval Postgraduate School. The city is under contract to provide public works at DLI.
"I'm delighted Col. Pick is coming on board also," City Councilwoman Libby Downey says. "I think he’ll be a great asset to the city."
She expects him to be particularly helpful should the U.S. Department of Defense undertake another round of base realignment and closures, in terms of pitching Monterey as a perfect home for the Army's language school.
During his last week of a 29-year Army career, Pick spoke with the Weekly about his service, the role of language in defense strategy and how the school has improved academically.
Pick will start as deputy city manager on June 9.