Letter to the Editor: Santa Clara should reconsider city manager hiring process

Santa Clara City Hall, Santa Clara, Utah, Sept. 18, 2018 | File photo by Hollie Reina, St. George News

OPINION — On May 8, Mayor Rick Rosenberg publicly stated that the city of Santa Clara should not open the vacant city manager position for external consideration. In fact, he didn’t even want to consider other internal candidates for the job, either.

The Mayor was content with simply appointing Brock Jacobson. On July 10, Rosenberg stuck with this position and presented for approval the city manager contract with Jacobson.

While Jacobson has in fact served our wonderful city well as assistant city manager, don’t you think as a government entity, at least some options should have been explored for city manager?

We need to let the Santa Clara City Council know that we will not stand for cronyism in our city. The city manager is the highest ranking employee in the city, our chief executive tasked with bridging the gap between politics and administration.

We are calling for the Santa Clara City Council to recall Jacobson as city manager and appoint him as interim city manager. We want this position to be publicly posted and allow for candidates to apply.

It is important to note this is not about Jacobson. There is a good chance that Jacobson will still be the best choice for city manager. This is all about government accountability and transparency. If Jacobson is the most qualified candidate, that is great! However, it is impossible to know without considering other candidates for the position.

Submitted by RACHEL JUDD, Santa Clara.

Letters to the Editor are not the product of St. George News, its editors, staff or news contributors. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them. They do not reflect the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting.

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