The second major department head inside Carmel City Hall is out the door within a span of two months.
The director of Carmel's Finance Department, Paul Wood, resigned on Jan. 9. Last week, Public Works Director Rob Mullane announced he was resigning; his last day is tomorrow, March 17.
City Manager Chip Rerig calls the decision "mutual" and "amicable."
"He's changing direction and we're changing direction, and sometimes change is good," Rerig says.
Rerig praised Mullane's work for the city, saying, "He did a lot of good projects for us."
Recently the City Council has been critical of public works projects, although Rerig denies those complaints had anything to do with Mullane's exit.
At a Feb. 7 council meeting, council members objected to an estimate of $61,900 to replace a Sunset Center parking lot railing, after staff initially estimated $24,700.
Bids came in from two companies, one for $46,500 from Monterey Peninsula Engineering, and another for $56,800 from DMC Residential, Inc.
Monterey Peninsula Engineering got the contract, and city staff asked the council to authorize spending up to $50,000, to allow for contingencies. Additional monies were reportedly needed for consulting by an architectural firm and other program and construction management costs, pushing the total to over $61,000.
Mayor Steve Dallas complained about how in the past city leaders had allowed spending on projects to get out of hand, and called for an ad hoc committee to study the process.
"I will not be putting up with any of this under this administration, period, end of story," Dallas said.
Rerig says he is looking for an interim manager to replace Mullane for now. "We'll look for a full-time individual in the future," he adds.
Other positions that the city is looking to fill include a new city attorney, after 33-year contract attorney Don Freeman announced his retirement, also at the Feb. 7 meeting, and an assistant city administrator.
(1) comment
Ahhh Carmel...the city by the sea that loves to give money away. Whether it is paying out for law suits or over spending on handrails this city has a reputation for turning a blind eye to fiscal responsibility. It hit an all time high with the last administration and it looks like this current one is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, or in this case, the handrail. Why were any of these bids even looked at? For a handrail? Bids like this come in because every company out there knows by now that Carmel will pay big money. I'll wager that no real effort will be made to curb unnecessary spending. If the council estimated spending $24,700 for this project and the bids came in between $46,500 to $56,800, who came up with the original estimate? That's a big delta. And that goes to the heart of the problem. Nobody knows how to estimate properly and the companies out there know it. Besides, an initial estimate to do this job should have never exceeded $10,000, and that should include architectural consulting. Shameful.
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