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Half Moon Bay will contract for an interim planning director with a private company as it takes a longer look at how to best provide the service for years to come.
The city will now seek proposals to provide long-range planning services as it was set to officially hire an interim planning director last night to lead the city's two-person department in the near term.
Monday night, in a special meeting, the council voted 4-0 to authorize City Manager Laura Snideman to request proposals from two firms to provide long-range planning services including a general plan update for Half Moon Bay.
Bruce Ambo, with Metropolitan Planning Group, will likely lead the planning department going forward until a permanent solution is found. The move is the latest in a trend toward contracting out city services as Half Moon Bay already partners with San Mateo County for police services and San Carlos for some administrative services for the Parks and Recreation Department.
Late last year, Matrix Consulting Group prepared a report that recommended a reduction in staff in the Planning Department from its three employees since the workload for the department had dropped off considerably in recent years. The number of permits issued has almost halved since 2008, according to the report.
"There has been a backlog in planning and the city has some long-range planning projects it must complete," said Vice Mayor John Muller.
Pat Webb, the city's former interim planning director just retired Friday and Ambo will fill her spot with a $124-an-hour contract for a maximum of $65,000, according to a staff report.
The council was set to approve that contract last night at its regularly scheduled meeting.
"Half Moon Bay's use of contract services allows the city to be proactive in addressing our operational needs and to utilize the skills of experts in their respective fields. The council's decisions will help us meet community expectations and move Half Moon Bay to more proactive governance," Snideman wrote in a statement.
The Matrix report indicated the department had several deficiencies and was unable to perform its regular permit duties in balance with the city's long-term goal to update outdated policies.
"We are taking decisive action to fix a broken part of City Hall," Mayor Rick Kowalczyk told the Daily Journal yesterday. "We want to provide a better service and improve the Planning Department."
At the same Monday night meeting, the council also authorized Snideman to create the positions of assistant city manager, community development director, deputy clerk/records technician and accounting technician.
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106
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