Half Moon Bay extends city manager contract

“In general, we are happy with his performance. He certainly works hard and is available,” Rarback said.

The three-year extension will go until Oct. 31, 2024, at a base salary of $260,150, an increase of $23,650 a year in compensation, a city report said. The council unanimously approved the decision at its Sept. 7 meeting. It hired Nisbet in 2018 on a three-year contract that was scheduled to end Oct. 28. It recently completed its annual performance evaluation of Nisbet, with the council expressing support for extending Nisbet’s contract. The city then directed the city attorney to prepare a three-year extension and a 10% increase in base salary.

City Attorney Catherine Engberg said the salary increase brings it up to par with comparable cities. Nisbet and executive staff took a 10% pay decrease during COVID, with Engberg noting there has been a gap in salary increase over the last couple of years.

Vice Mayor Debbie Ruddock supported the raise and praised him for his work.

“I think Bob earns his keep, and we are part of a labor market for public executives that supports these kinds of salaries and these sorts of benefits,” Ruddock said. “If we don’t play in that labor market, we can’t attract talent, and right now, we have a very talented public executive team that, by and large, delivers incredible value for the Half Moon Bay public.”

In response to public comments about his salary, Ruddock commented that public officials are often attacked for their salary more often than private executives, noting those working in the private sector may make far more but do not get nearly as many complaints.

“The city manager has to be available 24/7. I think it’s unfair that they treat public executives and private executives as different,” Ruddock said.

While Rarback said he was happy with Nisbet’s performance, he did see some room for improvement. One example is seeing more of his agenda items, like annexing the Moonridge area, taken up earlier. At its Sept. 7 meeting, the council discussed putting the item on a future agenda, with plans to discuss the issue at a goal setting-session in March.

“These things are happening, but not at the pace in some instances that I would like to happen,” Rarback said.

Other examples are taking action on hiring a police chief that would head up a public safety department and working on affordable housing, something he and Councilmember Joaquin Jimenez view as critical to helping residents.

“We are going to have a November meeting to make a plan to how we can produce a plan in affordable housing,” he said.

Rarback said he was happy with Nisbet’s performance, particularly during COVID-19 when the city faced potential budgeting issues.

“Staff is glad to work with him. I think he has gotten through us the finances of the pandemic really well,” Rarback said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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