Gilroy’s next city administrator is Tom Haglund, the
multi-tasking former deputy manager for the city of Hanford.
The city’s new top administrator is Tom Haglund, the multi-tasking former deputy manager for the city of Hanford.
All seven council member approved Haglund’s appointment Monday night, whereupon he formally signed his contract for $199,000 a year alongside Mayor Al Pinheiro, who took time to make a few jokes minutes after he formally swore in Gilroy’s new police chief, Denise Turner.
“Tom, we have a contract here that says you’ll be paid $1.99 an hour,” Pinheiro said before addressing the laugh-happy audience: “We already showed him his Taj Mahal office – Oh, wait, I’m sorry, that was the chief’s new office.”
On a more serious note, Pinheiro told Haglund he would “bring to this community a new, fresh approach, a new look and an opportunity to (effect) change and to learn from the past.”
Haglund – who will receive an annual vehicle allowance up to $6,000, up to $5,000 for moving costs and up to $8,000 for temporary housing until he finds a home within the city – maintained a tight-lipped smile and then told the council and audience, “It is truly an honor and privilege to have been selected as your city administrator.
“I’m excited to get to my new home and begin working in earnest with each member of this city council and staff and the members of this community,” Haglund continued. “I want to assure you that I will do everything I can to work with this council and staff to implement the vision of this city council and this community.”
The council’s vote came after three closed sessions and a rigorous background check. Haglund will begin May 5. His new salary is a $67,696 raise from Hanford, the city of 51,000 in the south central San Joaquin Valley where he has worked since 1994; he has held his deputy position there since 1996.
Haglund takes the job vacated by longtime administrator Jay Baksa, who left the city Jan. 4 earning $209,760 a year, the maximum for his position. Baksa officially retires June 2, however, and has been cashing in on the unused vacation time he accrued for nearly a quarter of a century, according to Human Resources Director LeeAnn McPhillips.
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.”
