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Saint Helena council reports it will not pursue two property sales, directs manager-contract amendments
Summary
City Attorney reported the council decided not to move forward with sales of 1480 Main Street and 1572 Railroad Avenue and completed the city manager's annual evaluation, directing the city attorney to draft amendments to the manager's contract for future open-session consideration.
Mayor Dohring reported on the Oct. 15 closed session that the council "decide[d] not to move forward with the sale" of 1480 Main Street and 1572 Railroad Avenue and said the city will "engage in a public process to consider its options" for those and other properties. City Attorney Walsh told the council there was no reportable action from the labor negotiators item but that the decision about the two properties would be made public.
Walsh also reported the council completed its annual evaluation of the city manager and "directed the city attorney to prepare amendments to the city manager's contract" that will be considered in open session at a future meeting. The transcript does not record final language for those amendments; Walsh said staff will bring proposed contract amendments back for council action.
Resident Mark Smithers had urged greater transparency earlier during public comment, saying residents were left "not knowing what's going on" after the council pivoted away from a previously discussed potential sale and asking for more public explanation of closed-session decisions. Mayor Dohring acknowledged Smithers's point and said there are limitations on what can be disclosed from closed sessions but that "there'll be a time for us to say what we need to say."
The report to the council summarized the closed-session items as: conference with labor negotiators (no reportable action); conference with real-property negotiators regarding the two addresses (council decided not to proceed with sales now and will pursue public options); a public-employee performance evaluation (city manager); and conference regarding the city manager's agreement (direction to city attorney to draft contract amendments). No formal public vote was taken during the open-session report beyond the acceptance of the city attorney's report.
The council provided no schedule in the open record for when proposed contract amendments would return for consideration. The city attorney said amendments would be considered at a future open meeting.
