City Manager appears to be on his way out

BY

Those following last week’s City Council meeting noticed the absence of City Manager Keith Breskin but learned little about his absence other than a comment by Mayor Jordan Ehrenkranz when he said, “Currently, the City Manager is absent with the Council’s agreement and Ariel Hall is the Acting City Manager. We want to assure the public that we are taking the utmost care in this situation and are ensuring that the City continues to move forward while we go through this process.”

It later was confirmed that Keith is on administrative leave. This week, Ariel said a press release was expected Thursday (yesterday). Keith was appointed Interim City Manager in February 2014 and later became the regular City Manger.

Prior to his appointment, the City had two Acting City Managers: Richard Rowe and Deborah Harrington. The last City Manager kept for any length of time was Lori Moss, who served from February 2007 to mid-2012.

While he was City Manager, Keith introduced a Utility User Tax measure, which voters passed by a slim majority in November 2014. He also was involved with the lawsuit the City brought against Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire in January in its dispute with Riverside County over financing firefighting and paramedic services.

The County says it is owed $903,646.10 for fire services provided in 2014. The City is seeking the court’s help on a controversy that exists between the City and the County relating to their rights and obligations under their Cooperative Agreement.

As Keith pointed out at the time, it isn’t that the City is refusing to pay its bills. But the City is challenging the amount Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire charged last year, along with the process for arriving at that amount after repeated attempts over the past several years to negotiate costs and services.

For further information about the City’s compliant, read the January 16 article, “City files ‘complaint,’ County files ‘claim,’” in the archives at www.fridayflyer.com.