The Desert Sun 10:42 p.m. PDT July 23, 2014 Desert Hot Springs financial director Amy Aguer steps down Desert Hot Springs’ chief financial officer, a key figure in the effort to dodge municipal bankruptcy and establish a balanced budget, is the latest person to join the exodus out of City Hall. “I’ve really enjoyed working with everybody here, but the main reason I’m leaving is due to the pay cuts,” said Administrative Services Director Amy Aguer, who is taking a job as controller of the Coachella Valley Water District. “I’d also like to spend more time with my family because, with the city understaffed, you work a lot of hours.” Aguer’s July 31 departure will vacate the city’s second-in-command position, a post that council determined is important enough to hire in the same way it chooses a city manager. Desert Hot Springs also is looking to hire a community development director, public works manager and four police officers — all of which are funded in the budget. City Hall has been struggling to retain employees since December, when council voted for across-the-board 22 to 35 percent salary cuts, slashed police officers’ incentive pay and reduced staff by 56 percent. An employee’s salary is a factor in determining how much is earned in retirement. “It’s always unfortunate when you have city employees leaving, especially department heads and especially seeing as we went through this tough budgeting process this year,” Mayor Adam Sanchez said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find more quality department heads, but it might take time.” The community development director position, which pays between $102,264 and $129,996, has been vacant since March 4, when the city promoted Martín Magaña to acting city manager. In May, the city hired Magaña to the top post permanently. Former Public Works Manager Rudy Acosta became assistant city manager of Palm Desert in April, at a time when Desert Hot Springs was weighing the budgetary impacts of his job. The position pays $7,565 to $9,583 a month. Desert Hot Springs has 23 of the 27 budgeted police officer jobs filled, which pay between $47,412 and $60,060. Officials said background checks are being done on four prospective employees, a process that can take as long as three months. The city has hired a new officer almost weekly, Aguer said, and only had 29 at its highest point in her time there. “We’ve seen more police leave than anybody else, but we’re generally a poor city that can only spend what it brings in,” Councilman Joe McKee said. “While we’d like to pay what other cities in the valley are offering, it’s not something that’s been a deterrent, and we’ve gotten plenty of resumes.” The city is actively recruiting and Aguer said candidates for her job could be shadowing her before her departure. Salaries make up about 80 percent of Desert Hot Springs’ costs, so McKee said the city should look at candidates wanting to retire locally or build a résumé. “The good news is Martín is getting a chance to bring in his own management team and is speaking with experienced people who might want to retire in the valley,” Aguer said. “He’s very close filling those positions, I believe, but obviously he needs to meet with council on that.” McKee said Aguer was a “stupendous” employee, who worked “long and hard” to right the city’s budget. He noted that Aguer came on board expecting a certain workload and salary to put her children through college, adding it was a “no-brainer” for her to accept a better offer when conditions changed. Her successor will be hired directly by the council. Responding to an audit that called for better internal controls over how the budget was crafted, the five elected leaders in June changed the organizational structure so the administrative services position no longer reported to the city manager. Councilman Scott Matas opposed the idea, saying at the time that, if the administrative services director and city manager disagree, it could spark “political uproar.” The administrative services director oversees Desert Hot Springs’ finances, risk management, information services, and human resources and is required to review every city contract. The position pays between $102,624 and $129,996. “It’s a lot of responsibility for one person,” Aguer said. “And I’m looking forward to not having that many responsibilities.” desertsun/story/news/local/2014/07/24/desert-hot-springs-financial-director/13083687/
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 17:12:36 +0000
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