Director of Public Works Steve Myrter will leave the City of Signal Hill after seven years of service to work with the City of Seal Beach, and in response, the Signal Hill City Council contracted the services of consulting firm Teri Black & Co. on Jan. 24 at its meeting to lead the recruitment process for Myrter’s replacement.
The contract states that Teri Black & Co. will spearhead the search for a new employee by advertising the vacant position via social media, producing recruitment brochures, conducting screening interviews, delivering written reports on selected candidates, coordinating candidate interviews with the City and completing background and reference checks.
The consulting firm is also conducting recruitments for a deputy city manager for the City of Long Beach, a City manager for the City of Arroyo Grande and a finance director for the City of Napa. The contract with Signal Hill is negotiated at $27,000.
“Ultimately, the council will decide who to hire when the process gets to that,” City Manager Charlie Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt added that current public works-related projects will continue as normal despite Myrter’s departure from the department.
Investment
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the council approved a resolution that authorizes multiple officials to invest excess cash in the Local Agency Investment Fund, which is a voluntary program created by statute in 1977 as an investment alternative for California’s local governments and special districts. The city manager, deputy city manager, Administrative Services Department (ASD) officer/finance director and deputy city ASD officer now have access to the fund.
Originally, the City’s Finance Department was authorized to make deposits and withdrawals from the account, but this newly passed resolution now allows more officials to have that authority.
“The finance director, right now, is the only person authorized to do that,” Honeycutt said. “But from time-to-time, that finance director may be on vacation, and we may need to bring cash into our bank account in order to pay bills.”
Services
The council voted to approve a request for proposals (RFP) to acquire custodial services citywide. This vote permits the City’s Department of Public Works to begin accepting offers from custodial service companies to work with the City.
The City contracts various services to supplement maintenance operations, including custodial labor. To continue providing these services, City leaders use RFPs to select a new company by reviewing requests from applying contractors that would ultimately supply the custodial labor. The term of the proposed contract is three years and, if needed, may be extended for one additional term of three years.
The contract states that contractors interested in the position must have a minimum of five years work experience and provide at least five references, one of which must be from a municipality located in Southern California, according to the City staff report. The scope of work performed by the contractor includes cleaning in facilities that are at least 50,000 square feet or larger.
Councilmember Edward Wilson briefly mentioned that he would prefer to hire a Signal Hill-based company for the service.
The release of the RFP is expected by early February 2017. A final, official contract is scheduled for the council’s review and consideration in March 2017.
Introductions
Mayor Lori Woods and Signal Hill Police Chief Christopher Nunley introduced Richard Rocchi as the new interim police captain for the Signal Hill Police Department. Woods mentioned that Rocchi began his career with the force as a reserve officer in 1986.
During the meeting, Woods also introduced Joanne Li as the new administrative assistant for the City’s Public Works Department and Sylvia Soong as the new management analyst of human resources for the Administration Department.
Presentations
Nunley presented the council with the National Night Out Award from the National Association of Town Watches. The chief said the the association selected the Signal Hill Police Department for the award for outstanding participation in the 33rd annual National Night Out event.
Travis Brooks, public works management analyst, provided the council with a presentation on the trash and recycling services the City has available for its residents and businesses.
Brooks stated the City is able to assist residents who wish to properly remove bulky waste items, e-waste items, household hazardous waste, automotive oil and commercial fats and oils from their properties.
Chris Maffris, Meta Housing representative, hosted a presentation about construction updates on the Gundry Hill Housing project. Maffris mentioned that there are “adaptive” rooms that can fit the needs of possible future residents with disabilities. During a public-comment session about the presentation, Signal Hill resident Carol Churchill said she was pleased to hear the housing project has installed air conditioning for residents.
Recognition
Woods and members of the city council recognized Dr. Hazel Wallace for serving as a Signal Hill representative for the Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District Board of Trustees. According to its website, Vector Control District performs disease surveillance, mosquito control and conducts community outreach to promote community health, comfort and welfare. Wallace thanked her colleagues, who were in the audience, for their support in the field.
The next Signal Hill City Council meeting will take place Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7pm in council chambers, 2175 Cherry Ave.
Why haven’t you informed the public about the firing of the City of Signal Hill’station Finance Director, Terri Marsh and the current lawsuit she has filed against the City of Signal Hill? Why was she fired? My understanding is that government corruption may have been involvef involved? As you previously published, Ms. Marsh was the only one with access to the City’s substantial investment pool until the City recently passed a resolution adding other key City officials to the access/approval list. Why has the City kept the story so low key? Why have you kept this story out of the news?