Lodi Council appoints acting city manager
May 9—James Lindsay told the Lodi City Council on Wednesday night that he was honored and excited to be able to serve the community.
The Santa Clara County native was appointed acting city manager by a 4-1 vote, with Vice Mayor Ramon Yepez dissenting, and will start work immediately, staff said in a social media post after Wednesday's meeting.
"This is a great opportunity to be able to get to know the community, to be able to work with you all, work with staff and work with the community," Lindsay said. "I'm looking forward to getting to my first day of work."
Lindsay recently retired from the City of Saratoga, where he served as city manager for 10 years and its development director for nearly three.
After retiring, he moved to El Dorado County and founded the consulting firm Sierra View Partners in Auburn.
He earned a bachelor's degree in environmental studies from San Jose State University in 1992, and his career in the public sector began with the City of Milpitas in 2003 as its permit center manager before becoming its planning manager until 2005.
He held similar positions with KB Home and the Campbell-based Metropolitan Planning Group until returning to Milpitas in 2007 to serve as its planning and neighborhood services director.
In that role, Lindsay said he oversaw the city's growth from a manufacturing community to one of high-density and mixed use as its transportation options improved.
Bay Area Rapid Transit completed its progression to the South Bay while Lindsay was in Milpitas, connecting the city of nearly 78,000 residents to the Peninsula and East Bay.
Lindsay would then join the City of Saratoga in 2011, which he said was a unique situation.
"It was a very financially constrained city, and to be able to operate and serve the community with those constraints was both very challenging and rewarding," he said. "One of the keystones of that work was to be able to work with the governor's finance staff to be able to rectify some property tax equities that helped open up some additional revenue."
As an appointed retired annuitant, Lindsay will be earning $140 an hour as acting city manager. City Attorney Katie Lucchessi said his hours cannot exceed 960 in a given year. That equates to $134,400.
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services director Christina Jaromay, who was serving as acting city manager in a temporary role, said she developed a good sense of how Lindsay has been in an administrative role.
She said a former Saratoga mayor gave Lindsay "rave reviews," while a local business owner there worked hand-in-hand with him to develop his winery.
"So a broad assessment of really great reviews of Mr. Lindsay by a collaboration of leaders," she said. "And (he's) just really involved in the community and wanting to do well in the community."
Councilwoman Lisa Craig-Hensley said she appreciated Lindsay's background in community development and finance, as it is of great interest to Lodi's business community.
"And you're charmful approach to communication with the city council, understanding to look 90 days out for agendizing things of importance to us, both individually and as a whole," she said.
Lindsay takes over for Scott Carney, who was placed on administrative leave last month pending an investigation into financial abuse claims he alleged staff were committing.
Carney read a prepared statement during the April 1 council meeting alleging that the city attorney and city clerk edited staff reports without his knowledge or approval.
He claimed the pair redacted parts of his approved reports to protect some employees, and that internal reviews of purchasing activity revealed evidence of widespread misuse of city credit cards to purchase personal items.
Mayor Cameron Bregman ordered Carney to stop speaking before he could finish his statement, stating the city manager began speaking about ongoing personnel investigations and a non-agendized item.
The Brown Act forbids city staff and elected officials from discussing personnel matters that are not placed on an agenda.
In a recent social media post, Bregman said he spoke to Carney on the phone prior to publishing the April 1 agenda, offering him the opportunity to make his remarks as a "generic" agenda item. Carney declined the offer, Bregman said.
During public comment Wednesday, resident John Slaughterback suggested the city perform a forensic audit into Carney's claims, or form a citizens oversight committee to monitor the process and bring any concerns to the council.
"The citizens of Lodi need to feel that this investigation has not been biased in its findings," he said. "The added procedure would give residents more confidence and a credible investigation."
Earlier in the meeting, the council unanimously approved a $210,000 contract with the Meyers Nave lawfirm to conduct a forensic audit. Bregman said information related to the investigation would be discussed at the council's May 21 meeting.
Yepez did not disclose why he voted against appointing Lindsay Wednesday night, and did not respond to inquires by press time Thursday.
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