February 2, 2006

City Hall News Briefs

City Council names Les White as interim city manager

Retired San Jose executive to lead City Hall for at least a year

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

The San Jose City Council appointed Tuesday former San Jose City Manager Les White to temporarily replace departing City Manager Del Borgsdorf.

White is returning to City Hall after retiring as city manager 11 years ago. He served the city from 1989 until 1995. He will run the city’s day-to-day operations until the council selects a permanent replacement for recently retired Borgsdorf next year.

“Les comes to us with outstanding experience and unique knowledge of San Jose that will be especially valuable for successfully managing our city organization during a challenging period of transition,” said San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales. “I’m confident that with his strong leadership and management skill we will continue to make excellent progress to serve the people of our community without missing a beat.”

Before becoming city manager for San Jose, White served as city manager and assistant city manager in Fullerton and assistant city manager in Fresno.

Since his retirement he has served in temporary management posts for several California cities, including interim city manager in Pittsburg and Seaside, interim town manager and parks and public works director in Los Gatos, and interim planning director in Palo Alto. He also served as the interim executive director of United Way of Silicon Valley and San Jose Symphony.

“I’m looking forward to returning to a city I love and the challenge of leading an excellent organization successfully through a time of change and uncertainty,” said White. “I intend to work as hard as I can to leave this city in great shape for the next city manager to take over next year.”

Under the city charter, the city manager is responsible the daily administration of the city, managing its 6,500 employees and delivering direct services to the public.

Borgsdorf, who was appointed city manager in 1999, announced his retirement last month and plans to relocate to Sarasota, Fla. His last day was Jan. 20.

White lives in Aptos with his wife Marilyn and grandson Victor, but he plans to obtain interim housing in San Jose for the duration of his service here. He has a bachelor’s degree in public administration from California State University-Fresno, and a master’s degree in government administration from University of Pennsylvania. His appointment is effective Feb 6.

The city will begin formally looking for a permanent city manager this fall after primary and general elections when the city will have chosen a new mayor to replace termed-out Gonzales in 2007. The new mayor and council are expected to make their selection next spring.

Under the charter, the mayor is responsible for nominating city manager candidates for the council’s consideration.

“This position is the most critically important appointment the city council makes. It’s essential that it is made by the mayor and council members who will be working most closely with the next city manager in the coming years,” said Gonzales. “I believe the next mayor should lead the recruitment and selection process, but we can take steps now to streamline the council’s decision making for next year to ensure that our city will maintain continuity of excellent leadership.”

In other news, the city council has also selected this week an interim replacement for John Bjurman, who resigned in December from the city’s Information Technology Department after only serving for six months.

Randy Murphy, retired chief information officer for Lake County, Ill., replaced Bjurman on Tuesday. The city will begin looking for a permanent chief information officer soon.

Last fall, the department’s former technology boss Wandzia Grycz resigned after investigations alleged flaws in the department’s handling of municipal contracts.

One investigation, conducted by San Jose City Auditor Gerald Silva and San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle, found favoritism in the award of an $8 million contract to install Cisco System equipment for a computer-and-phone network in the new city hall. Grycz has since sued the city alleging she was wrongfully terminated.

The department—with a $10 million operating budget and an average $5 million capital budget—has been under public scrutiny since last summer. The department has more than 100 employees. Jose Obregon, San Jose’s former director of general services, was demoted in the wake of the scandal and Grycz’ deputy, Wendy Walker, also resigned.