Curtis Williams has resigned as planning director for Los Altos Hills, raising questions among some town officials about the treatment of employees.
In order to help make the transition a smooth one, Williams will contract his services back to the city, on a part-time basis for the next six months, as a private consultant.
"This is something I've thought about for at least a year. The main reason I'm leaving is to vary my workload in terms of professionally getting out and doing different things," Williams said. "We've all known that this is a politically difficult situation, and I don't want to leave the new manager in a bad spot."
Reactions were strong.
"A year ago I felt we were the envy of all the other cities. We had a very strong staff. Everyone respected our city manager and planning director," Mayor Elayne Dauber said. "It took one year. The entire planning staff will have changed - our entire top-notch staff has been decimated." Former City Manager Jeff Peterson left the town in June.
City Manager Mark Miller said, "It's a big loss for the town. He's one of the best planning directors I've ever worked with. He's bright, he's a quick study, and he's also a consensus builder."
But Williams has had a tough time building a consensus within the city council. Councilwoman Toni Casey, in particular, has questioned Williams repeatedly at recent meetings.
"I'm concerned about the climate of the employees at Town Hall," said Jim Steiner, who has applied to run for the city council seat due to be vacated by Bill Siegel in January. "I think some members of the town council have not been treating them with the respect that they deserve.
"One of the concerns I have right now is town integrity. The town code is 30 years old and needs to be upgraded, but the approach today by some members of the city council seems to be to berate the planning commission and staff, and if that doesn't work, to simply ignore the code.
"Some of us feel that's wrong and that the code must be upheld."
But Councilman Steve Finn believes he and Casey act reasonably and out of necessity. "I think that we are being extremely responsible in making sure that they (the staff) are doing what is right for our residents," he said. "They are serving a customer, and that customer is our residents. I think they occasionally lose sight of that. We have to remind them that they must treat our residents appropriately.
"To say that staff is leaving because of Steve and Toni, I'd say that is politicizing something that isn't true. This is normal turnover.
"Every (staff member) that has left has dramatically improved their careers as they've made changes, and we brought in new wonderful people who are also improving their careers. It's good for everyone."
"I'm real sorry to see Curtis leave and I'm very happy that he's agreed to stay on as a consultant, I think he's been one of our most knowledgeable, best planners we've ever had," Casey said. "I don't always agree with my fellow council members or every interpretation that Curtis makes, but I've never blind-sided him.
"Curtis and I have always talked about the issues prior to the meetings. In fact, I've called him up before the meetings, which he's very much appreciated, and asked him questions, so that he can be sure that he's not blind-sided. I've never treated Curtis with anything but the utmost respect and courtesy."