BREAKING NEWS: Incline Votes 4-1 to Hire Pinkerton

pinkerton-steveThe Tahoe Daily Tribune reports this morning that the IVGID board of trustees voted 4-1 this morning to enter into contract negotiations with Steve Pinkerton to become general manager.

According to the report, “Trustees anticipate bringing a contract for approval and an official start date, should Pinkerton accept the position, at the Feb. 12 board meeting, chairman Joe Wolfe said.”

Earlier story:

The End of the Line for City Manager Pinkerton in Davis?

The hopes that Davis might retain City Manager Steve Pinkerton may have taken a fatal blow this week, as the Tahoe Daily Tribune is reporting that the “search firm hired by the IVGID Board of Trustees to find a new district leader is taking blame for an oversight that reveals one candidate was never qualified to apply.”

One of the two finalists for the position of general manager of the Incline Village General Improvement District, Eric Severance, does not have a bachelor’s degree, one of the position’s minimum requirements.

The paper reports, “While Severance, an Incline resident, was a member of the class of 1975 at Juniata College, he did not graduate with a degree, a spokesperson for the Huntingdon, Pa., school confirmed Monday.”

The paper notes, “Severance, who wrote on his resume he attended Juniata and had continuing education at Southern Oregon State University and Rogue College (Medford, Ore.), confirmed Tuesday he does not hold a degree.”

“I never misrepresented anything on my resume, what’s there is exactly as it’s stated,” Mr. Severance told the paper. “The search firm vetted me and understands all of my background and qualifications. They recommended to put me forward based on my total lifetime accomplishments as the best candidate for the position.”

The listed job description is, “A Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Business, Finance, Accounting Engineering or other related field from an accredited four year college or university is required.” Further, a master’s in public or business administration is “strongly preferred.”

It is of course the other finalist that we have more interest in, and Mr. Pinkerton, of course, meets both the required and preferred educational levels needed for the position.

Today both candidates were scheduled to make presentations with public interviews that could run into tomorrow if necessary.

The Vanguard has had mixed information on the chances of Mr. Pinkerton being selected as the finalist.  One view says that there are three votes there to hire the local candidates.  The other view says there are three votes that are looking for a new direction.

How this new information changes the scenario is anyone’s guess.

The paper reports, “Search firm co-founder Phil McKenney said he recently discovered Severance did not hold a degree.”

“Missing that is an error on my firm’s part, “ Mr. McKenney told the paper. “… This is my mistake, in that I did not make the board aware of this earlier in the process. I take total responsibility for this. That’s not how we do business.”

The paper adds, “The IVGID board is scheduled to interview both candidates Wednesday, when McKenney plans to bring the situation to the board’s attention.”

“Often times, it’s worth a discussion that if the candidate lives in the community, has worked for the district in the past, yet does not have a degree … does that person’s experience, successes and accomplishments trump the education requirement? I believe that question will be asked (Wednesday),” said Mr. McKenney, who stressed that Severance did nothing wrong by applying for the position.

Boding poorly for Davis’ chances of retaining Steve Pinkerton, “IVGID Board Chairman Joe Wolfe said he recently became aware of the issue.”

“When (the board) decided what our requirements would be … when we finalized them, we expected Mr. McKenney to vet the candidates and to inform us,” Mr. Wolfe said Tuesday. “In my opinion, I thought Mr. McKenney would have ruled out (Severance) … due to the requirements.”

Mr. Wolfe said “he doesn’t see any wiggle room around what the job description says versus what’s represented on Severance’s resume.”

“In my opinion, if we now start playing favorites, then we ruled out several people who didn’t have (a degree) either,” Mr. Wolfe said. “We’ve had procedures set in place … all along.”

The paper added, “A phone message to IVGID Counsel Scott Brooke seeking legal clarification on the matter was not returned for this story.”

Mr. Pinkerton, in a comment on the record, cited personal reasons for applying for the Incline Village position.

He told the Vanguard in early January, “My wife and I have always loved Lake Tahoe.  Audrey lived in Zephyr Cove as a young adult and has always dreamed of going back to the mountains.  We also have very close friends who live in the Reno-Tahoe area.”

He called the opportunity a unique one and denied he was actively seeking a new position.

“While I haven’t been actively looking for a new position, the position description piqued my interest,” stated Mr. Pinkerton.  “The opportunity to manage a service-focused Special District in one of the most livable communities in the country is a unique opportunity.”

Two councilmembers declined comment previously. However, Mayor Joe Krovoza, in a text to the Vanguard, said, “Our council with Steve is moving tremendously important issues forward.  He has gained a great sense for our values and how to reflect them in his two-plus years with us.  I hope we keep the momentum going, but I certainly understand why others are interested in him.”

According to the job description, the Incline Village General Improvement District, commonly known as IVGID, is located on the northeast corner of Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Washoe County, Nevada and occupies a land area of approximately 15.36 square miles.

It is a community of roughly 9000 people.

The description explains, “The community encompasses approximately 9,400 parcels in an unincorporated rural area. The District includes parcels with addresses in both Incline Village and Crystal Bay and approximately 1,200 of these parcels are government exempt (USFS, State) and of the remaining 8,200 parcels, more than half are owned for occasional use.”

IVGID was formed in 1961 as a General Improvement District which is a quasi-municipal corporation.  The Board of Trustees operates as a city council type organization, elected, setting policy on behalf of the electorate.

However, the description notes, “While the district is a local unit of government, it functions more as a business because of the significant enterprise nature of most of its activities.”

Mr. Pinkerton told the Vanguard he was not added to the list of interviewees until late October.

He also assured council and the public that he is not seeking other positions, that this was what he considered a unique opportunity, given the community and the proximity of lifelong friends.

“I want to emphasize that I am very happy in my current position and continue to enjoy working for the City Council and the citizens of Davis,” he said.  “I have not been submitting applications for any other positions, and I am not considering any other opportunities at this time.”

However, as this plays out there is a good chance he will be offered the position and if that is the case, why would he go through this process if he did not intend to take the position?

—David M. Greenwald reporting

Author

  • David Greenwald

    Greenwald is the founder, editor, and executive director of the Davis Vanguard. He founded the Vanguard in 2006. David Greenwald moved to Davis in 1996 to attend Graduate School at UC Davis in Political Science. He lives in South Davis with his wife Cecilia Escamilla Greenwald and three children.

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78 comments

  1. To land on his feet if push came to shove or for bargaining power for a new contract with this council that dithers while Davis burns. Yet if he goes we will have no one to blame but ourselves for treating a talented leader like an expendable commodity.

    1. “Yet if he goes we will have no one to blame but ourselves for treating a talented leader like an expendable commodity.”

      Pinkerton came into the position knowing he was going to be doing many unpopular things in order to right the financial ship. Anyone in his position can’t afford to be thin-skinned, and I’ve seen no indication that he’s either surprised or disappointed at the conditions he’s faced as City Manager.

      1. Which means, Pinkerton can retire from PERS (even though he is not yet 55 years old), start with a pension of roughly $145-$150,000 per year, take the $145,000 on top of that IV will pay him, and pay no state income tax on his $290-$300,000 annual income. I presume IV will give him a medical plan, and it’s likely he would want a full retiree medical plan from them. He won’t get retiree medical from Davis, as he is not yet vested here (although it’s possible there is language in his contract that I don’t know about which vested him early).

        One thing I recently learned about a 2.5% at 55 pension is that you can retire at 50, if you want. You don’t get quite as much if you’re not yet 55, but at Pinkerton’s age (53 or 54) he will get nearly 100% of his full pension.

        1. So, our harebrained compensation plans not only over-pay employees at all levels, it also creates these weird incentives for employees arguably in the prime of their effectiveness to not stick around.

          Can we outsource the city manager position?

          1. There is a city in Georgia called Sandy Springs which outsources almost all of its employees other than police and fire (who cannot be outsourced under the state constitution). One of the few actual employees is the CM.

            From The Economist:

            “This experiment in radical outsourcing began back in December 2005, when Sandy Springs went from being merely a part of Fulton County—which also includes most of Atlanta, Georgia’s capital and largest city—to an incorporated city itself. CH2M Hill, a Colorado-based engineering firm, signed a contract to provide city services, which it did until the middle of 2011. Then Sandy Springs took the experiment further and solicited competitive bids for different services. It also signed contracts with losing bidders for every winning one. These contracts came with neither pay nor work; they simply provide insurance in case the winning bidder fails to provide good service or raises prices. John McDonough, the city manager, estimated the move will save Sandy Springs $7m each year for the next five.”

          2. The changes proposed/implemented may have accelerated some folks to “lock in” their benefits. Expect a number of key staff leaving in the ‘near past’ or in the next 2 years.

    1. You could blame it on the reasons you suggest but that would deny the obvious that at the time he applied there was a thinly veiled campaign to get him fired and there are surely people who would still be happy to see him go. Had there not been that effort and a contract renewal been on the table its doubtful he would have bothered to apply. It is a lot of effort to apply for jobs in leadership positions. Institutional inertia is the path of least resistance.

      1. I agree that both the contract renewal matter and the high-level attempt to oust him were likely motivators for looking elsewhere. I don’t believe the absence of universal love for him or his efforts played a role.

        1. I don’t think there was a high level attempt to oust him. It was more of a lobbying effort of the council that went nowhere. Still it made him consider his options. The part I don’t understand, and it could be that I don’t have all the facts, is why more wasn’t done to try to get him to stay? Perhaps there was no point because as Rifkin points out the money is just too good to pass up should he get to collect his pension in California while working in Nevada. Perhaps its not too late. I don’t know. I’m just sad to see him go and wish something would have been different so he would have stayed. This of course assumes he goes.

          1. Mr. Toad: According to my information, you are completely wrong, there was a high level attempt to oust him.

    1. There are always replacements. We can all be replaced. We may even find somebody as good but it will take time to find a permanent replacement who can handle the many difficulties being a City Manager in Davis presents. Davis is facing some difficult decisions so its a bad time for Pinkerton to go.

      1. And there is a start-up cost for any management replacement. You don’t just step in and start being productive on the first day. This means that progress on certain things will stall.

        And for all of us that want to complain about the performance of city staff… look no further than this lack of continuity of leadership.

        It is a bigger problem than we consider.

        I think the compensation plans for our city manager needs to be completely reworked to include at-risk bonus based on performance goals that provide a substantial upside.

        Davis should welcome a city manager making $300,000 per year if he/she is performing well enough. And with compensation potential at that level, we would attract and retain the best and the brightest.

        But would the egalitarians scream bloody murder that it is not fair that we would pay someone so much (even if half of their compensation was tied to specific performance goals every year)? Probably.

    1. His lack of support from 2/5ths of the City Council is certainly a factor. But it’s not the only one. You have to know that Pinkerton has been an ambitious climber who has left other cities for a bit bigger job with a bit more pay a number of times over the last 15 years. This move is in line with that. Also, because of his now being able to cash in on his huge pension, he has a very strong incentive to retire from PERS. Even more, if he lives in Nevada, he avoids the horribly high California income tax rate on what will be his $300,000 or so income in Nevada. Prop 30 is giving all high income California retirees a very strong incentive to leave our state. If the Silicon Valley ever decides to leave the Bay Area, the way the movie industry left Los Angeles, we would really see how few people pay almost all of the state’s income tax. And when they go, the game is over.

        1. You couldn’t pay me enough to deal with the cold and snow. Now, if we could just dial back the summer highs in Davis to the low 90s, it’d be perfect!

          Unfortunately, Pinkerton seems to like the idea of living at Tahoe, so I don’t think he’ll be here much longer.

      1. So, you seem to be saying, “an opportunist”… have no problem with that…. folks I’ve talked to see him as distant to city staff, but personable if you know him well… I think the City should thank him for his service, and ‘move on”. Just an opinion

        1. I don’t agree that we should move on hpierce, but for the sake of the discussion, do you have any thoughts about either an interim City Manager or a peramanent City Manager?

          1. On an intrerim, depends on how long “interim” is. There are a few I could commend for about 6 months , but long term, my opinion iis that the city needs to go outside.

            As the CM has a clause in the contract6

    2. Dan and Lucas didn’t push him out. As stated publicly by the mayor there was no move by the CC to fire him. I think the word the mayor used was “actionable.” The push came from other places in the community. I’m not sure he is gone, he hasn’t signed a contract yet. Although if Rifkin is correct about the big payday he could get if he goes it will be hard to see how Davis can retain him. Still they might try to make him an offer to stay. You never know miracles can happen. If he goes I will be sad so perhaps its just wishful thinking on my part.

      1. I think the word the mayor used was “actionable.”

        I believe it was more along the lines of – no Council action to report – which could simply mean that they didn’t take a formal vote. If you do not believe that there was a move to oust the CM by a minority of the CC then you are just being naive.

      2. you’re drawing a false distinction. what the mayor reported is that there was no actual vote taken, that does not mean that dan and lucas weren’t pushing for pinkerton to be fired, but stopped short of voting to fire him when they realized they didn’t have a third vote. one of the councilmembers who shall be nameless, told me directly that dan and lucas pushed very hard to fire pinkerton but they never got a third vote.

        and you’re missing a second problem, if sheila allen wins, she could potentially at least join with dan and lucas to oust pinkerton and pinkerton can count and if he has a soft landing spot, he’ll take it.

        1. TOAD: Listen to the actual words coming out of the Wolk camp. Dan and his people are now on the warpath against Pinkerton. They are trying desperately to get the firefighters on board Dan’s campaign. And the method to get the firefighters to love Dan, the way the firefighters love Mariko, is to go after Pinkerton, who the firefighters passionately hate. I spoke recently with one of Dan’s people–not Dan himself–and I was shocked at how livid this person’s anti-Pinkerton rhetoric was. The very same person had good things to say about Pinkerton 6 and 12 months ago. But now, in campaign mode, the Dan camp is doing all it can to please the firefighters.

          The interesting question in all of this is are the other employee groups in Davis, who played ball and worked with the City, ever going to stand up for themselves and speak out against the firefighters; and by extension against Dan’s candidacy? After all, with X amount of dollars to go around, and Dan and Lucas doing everything they can to make sure an excessive percentage of that goes to the firefighters, the other employee groups are the biggest losers in that equation. I just don’t think the other city workers’ groups (as opposed to individual members) are set up to really speak up and call out those who want the firefighters to have more of their money. Certainly, as services are cut in order to pay more for firefighters, the general public is not speaking up or behaving rationally. Heck, they are likely going to elect one of the two members of the Council who is determined to screw them over as our next member of the Assembly, and in two years they will move Lucas Frerichs, the other tool of the firefighters, up to the Board of Supervisors. Alas, the people of Davis have proven they don’t care about ethics, they don’t care about fairness, they don’t care about corruption, they don’t care about raising taxes, even when that takes money from the pockets of most residents who have no pensions and no OPEB and gives it to folks who make a lot more.

          1. It’s very disconcerting to think that the selection of the new city manager is going to be an under-the-radar issue in the next council campaign. It will likely distort — even more than usual — the funding and volunteer efforts on behalf of certain candidates. This is simply terrible timing.

          2. UCD students have pensions? Private sector workers have pensions? Small business owners have pensions? No, no and no, that is why.

          3. Also, even though K-14 teachers and most full-time UCD personnel have pensions, none gets a benefits package worth anywhere near what city employees are getting, and city employees in general get far less in benefits than City firefighters.

            Just look at the UCD firefighters compared with the City firefighters. The pension, OPEB and cafeteria benefit given to the Davis firefighters is (if I recall correctly) more than double that of the university firefighters, who do the same job. More than double!

            What a tax hike means is that all sorts of residents of Davis, including teachers like you, Toad, who make half of what most city employees make in total comp, will have less for themselves, so that the City can go on giving away unbelievably generous pensions, OPEB and medical to its employees and its employees’ families.

            And what is the response of the two members of the city council who are most ambitious to please the firefighters in order to further their political careers? Lets give the firefighters more, more, more; and let’s screw over everyone else, because no one else seems to care. Certainly, the Toads of this world either don’t care or are incapable of doing basic math.

          4. UC Davis students might have pensions by the time they retire. Private sector workers also might have pensions if they are in an unionized industry. Many private sector workers have IRA or 401K programs too. Of course the biggest employers in our area all offer prnsion plans; UC, the county, the city, the state, the military and various school systems.

  2. Wish he would stay another year or two, but the comments above as to fiscal reasons to move to Nevada make a compelling argument. He also has personal ones.

  3. “Yes, his experience will be greatly missed – BIG TIME IN FACT – but his leadership and pragmatism all the more.”

    Then again, that’s just a businessman talking.

  4. So now the council, already facing a full agenda and a number of important decisions, and an upcoming election, has to deal with the process of selecting an interim city manager, establishing a hiring search, reviewing candidates, and making a final selection.
    This is a regrettable waste of council resources and reflects very poorly on two council members.

  5. There sure are a lot of unnamed sources being touted. I have gotten the same answer from two people who were in the meeting and we have the corroborating public statement of the mayor that no vote was taken. I think unless we have first hand, on the record statements its all speculation and here say, and we need to remember that.

  6. You have any on the record quotes attributed to real people using their real names or just gadfly anonymous posters like myself whose accuracy and influence are wildly overstated?

  7. You guys are all missing the big picture. Instead of trying to read tea leaves about confidential meetings why aren’t you putting pressure on all five sitting council members? It seems to me that Davis should at least try to retain him by putting a new contract on the table. If my understanding is correct any 3 members could offer him a new contract so whatever and whoever made him apply in Incline Village is less relevant than the fact that he has not yet been offered a new contract by Davis. In only attacking Dan and Lucas you are forgetting that the majority rules and there are three other votes on the council. If you want to be a legitimate news operation why don’t you ask all five council members on the record about why the city has not entered into new contract negotiations and if we can expect the city to do so? Interesting that as far as we know Pinkerton hasn’t yet signed with Incline Village but there is no time to lose.

          1. Then why say it at all? Its either on the record or off the record. If its on the record report it but if its off the record don’t report it. isn’t that how it works in real journalism?