Portola Valley town geologist won't get paid for unauthorized work, council decides Portola Valley town geologist won't get paid for unauthorized work, council decides (April 03, 2002)

By Sharon Driscoll

Almanac Staff Writer

Portola Valley Town Geologist Bill Cotton will not be getting paid for all of the work he's done on a project assigned by the town last year.

The problem? Mr. Cotton didn't notify the town manager when he'd spent his budget, then didn't ask for approval for additional funds. And, he billed Town Hall only after the work was done.

Mr. Cotton has submitted three invoices for the work _ attending and preparing for seven meetings of the Ad-Hoc Geologic Setback Committee _ totaling $3,956. But the Town Council agreed at its March 27 meeting to pay only the $2,200 that had been approved in advance by Town Manager Angela Howard, plus another $878 as a good-will gesture.

But the council agreement for the good-will payment was not unanimous: Council members George Comstock, Richard Merk and Ted Driscoll voted in favor of the payment, while Mayor Ed Davis and Councilman Kirke Comstock opposed it.

"While we have a responsibility to not overrun our budget, the same holds for our consultants," said Councilman Kirke Comstock.

"I don't think this should reflect on the efforts of the committee or on the town geologist," said Mayor Davis. "This is about business controls."

Ms. Howard had advised the council not to pay Mr. Cotton more than the authorized amount.

A separate bill submitted by Mr. Cotton for $1,000 to cover future meetings will not be paid because the committee will not be meeting again, and is ready to present its recommendations at the council's April 24 meeting.

Mr. Cotton could not be reached for comment before the Almanac's deadline.
The committee

The Ad-Hoc Geologic Setback Committee was appointed by the council last October to review the town's current building setback requirements that relate to proximity to earthquake faults. The committee included Councilman Driscoll, Planning Commissioner Stephen Toben, Ms. Howard, Town Planner George Mader and Mr. Cotton.

Mr. Mader and Mr. Cotton are both consultants to the town and charge for their time on an hourly basis.

Mr. Mader has billed his time spent on the committee's work, now running at about $7,489, to his planning budget and so did not request additional funds from the town, explained Ms. Howard.

But Mr. Cotton requested and received authorization for funds to cover his time on the committee.

Unauthorized work

Ms. Howard explained that this was not the first time Mr. Cotton billed the town for unapproved work. She said that a year ago, she met with Mr. Cotton to explain to him that the town would no longer pay for work undertaken without her formal approval.

Noting the good relations between Mr. Cotton and many council and committee members, Ms. Howard said she could see how a misunderstanding might happen when a council member asked Mr. Cotton directly to do some work. But she explained to Mr. Cotton that without her approval of the expenditure, he should not undertake additional work and expect payment from the town. She also asked him to submit his invoices in a timely fashion.

"The quality of his work is not in question," said Ms. Howard. "But I need to know ahead of time what the work will be and what will be budgeted. Not knowing for months makes it difficult to manage."

Ms. Howard said that Mr. Cotton was well-advised of the town's requirement for formal pre-approval for all expenditures. In addition to discussing the requirement at their meeting, it is clearly written out in Mr. Cotton's consultant's contract with the town.