After three closed sessions and a rigorous background check, the
Gilroy City Council will likely vote to hire Gilroy’s next city
administrator Monday. If it does, Tom Haglund, the multi-tasking
deputy manager for the city of Hanford, will begin May 5 with a
starting salary of $199,000.
After three closed sessions and a rigorous background check, the Gilroy City Council will likely vote to hire Gilroy’s next city administrator Monday. If it does, Tom Haglund, the multi-tasking deputy manager for the city of Hanford, will begin May 5 with a starting salary of $199,000.
That’s a $67,696 raise for Haglund, who has worked for Hanford, a city of 51,000 residents in the south central San Joaquin Valley, since 1994 and has held his deputy position there since 1996. Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilmembers Craig Gartman and Perry Woodward composed the Gilroy subcommittee that vetted Haglund’s credentials along with a background investigator.
“It is with great pride and confidence that we recommend that Tom Haglund be appointed as Gilroy’s next city administrator and that his employment agreement be approved by the city council,” reads a letter drafted by the three men to the full council. “This is an exciting and challenging time for the city of Gilroy and a strong leader is needed to move Gilroy forward to be an even greater organization poised to serve the community even during tough economic times.”
Last February, the subcommittee and investigator visited Hanford to see the streetscape Haglund has helped craft during his tenure and to get an idea of what the man might bring to Gilroy by talking with those he works with.
“There’s an older flare to the downtown area in Hanford just like Gilroy,” said Gartman, referring partially to Hanford’s green “Courthouse Square,” where stately oaks shade a 111-year-old courthouse now filled with office space and surrounded by restaurants, outdoor kiosks and a carousel. Haglund helped the city assume control of the once-decaying area, and councilmember Dion Bracco and others have said they hope he can also breathe more life into Gilroy’s downtown.
“We need to get people in here that can help jump start the downtown, especially with the arts center: We have some major challenges on trying to make that happen, so I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to step up to the plate on that,” Bracco said. He added that Haglund spoke articulately and had clearly done his homework because he could rattle off answers about Gilroy’s sidewalk dilemma, city salaries and recent union negotiations. It was as easy as studying, Haglund said.
“As I began to investigate Gilroy as a community, it had a lot of similarities to Hanford. It’s agriculturally based; they’re similar sizes; and there are similar concerns about the downtowns and keeping them viable,” Haglund said. “Gilroy also faces residential growth and the need to have an appropriate amount of commercial and industrial growth to provide living-wage jobs.”
Well done, councilmembers said, but what is even more impressive is the breadth of Haglund’s leadership. Here are a few things he does, and has done, along with being deputy manager, according to his resume:
Directs the community development department
Served as interim police chief in 2003.
Helped create shared center for Hanford and school and college districts
Serves as chairman of the board of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority (11 cities and two counties)
Serves as municipal airport director
Oversees city’s cable television franchise
“Tom has a great deal of experience, not only with the Courthouse Square, but as the chair of the power authority and being instrumental in the expansion of the airport,” Gartman said. “He has helped the municipality grow, and he is very creative in his thoughts.”
During their visit to Hanford, the mayor and two councilmembers spoke with school district representatives and economic development gurus who corroborated Haglund’s stellar reputation, they said.
“I came away from it impressed by the amount of regard and respect that folks in the Hanford community had for Tom,” Woodward said. “He’s a sharp guy who strikes me as being very ethical, so I’m very encouraged.”
The mayor agreed and also said Haglund’s youth means he has “the fire in his belly to get things done.”
“He’s got what I think we need to do, and that’s making partnerships,” Pinheiro said. “We saw this (at Wednesday night’s study session on) the arts center: No longer is it just government that can write the check and get things done – in today’s world, it takes partnerships.”
As an Eagle Scout and former District Executive for the Boy Scouts of America, Haglund understands the value of solid relationships, and his public sector career spans three cities and dates back to 1991, when he was a legislative assistant for the League of Oregon Cities. He worked for the Boy Scouts after graduate school and also worked as a grocery manager for Omni Enterprises in Dillingham, Alaska from 1989 to 1990.
Haglund was one of five applicants who showed up at the Hilton Garden Inn in south Gilroy Feb. 1, where two interview panels comprised of 16 community leaders – including The Dispatch’s editor-in-chief, various commission members, city staff and union representatives – interviewed the candidates. The full city council interviewed each one separately and then selected three to come back the next morning after a closed session deliberation.
Haglund was one of the three finalists to make the cut, and after the second round of interviews, the council agreed in closed session that he was the body’s top choice. That is when the council also selected Pinheiro, Gartman and Woodward to form the sub-committee. There were two follow-up closed sessions concerning Haglund Feb. 25 and March 17.
The council had considered promoting Assistant City Administrator Anna Jatczak to fill former City Administrator Jay Baksa’s position after his 24-year career ended early January. Jatczak said she will stay on and work with Haglund, who said he looks forward to working with all of Gilroy’s employees.
“I am very respectful of the experience and education that employees bring to what is ultimately the very diverse business of municipal government,” Haglund said. “Going into a new organization, I will look, listen and learn.”
Bio box
Married: No
Kids: None
Age: 44
Education: master’s degree in public administration, Portland State University ¬- bachelor’s degree, Portland State University
Who interviewed Haglund
Full City Council
Linda Callon, City Attorney
Annie Tomasello, Personnel Commission
Art Barron, Planning Commissioner
Barbara Delorenzo, Parks & Recreation Commissioner
Bob Kraemer, President of Gilroy Gardens Board of Directors
Dale Foster, Fire Chief
Cherie Somavia, POA President
Steve Ynzunza, AFSCME President
Jim Buessing, Firefighter
Javier Aguirre, GUSD Board Member
Jennifer Sparacino, Santa Clara City Manager
Lupe Arellano, former council member
Mark Derry, Gilroy Dispatch Editor
Sam Bozzo, Personnel Commissioner
Shawna Freels, City Clerk
Sherri Stuart, artist and philanthropist
Steve Kinsella, Gavilan College President
Susan Valenta, Chamber of Commerce Executive
