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The Portola Valley Town Council unanimously voted to appoint Mark Linder as its interim town manager during a meeting on Jan. 8. Linder will start on Monday, Jan. 13, and fill the role until Dec. 12 or until the town hires a permanent town manager.
The base salary for the role is set at $255,818 per year, equivalent to $122.99 per hour, and doesn’t include benefits, according to the staff report.
Linder, who retired in 2016, previously served as city manager of Campbell, interim city manager of the town of Windsor and most recently as interim city manager of Sonoma.
As a retired public employee, Linder is unable to receive benefits under California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) rules. He will also be paid the same salary as former Town Manager Sharif Etman, under CalPERS rules which states that annual pay must be no less or no more than what is listed for the existing position.
The town explains it will be spending less on Linder’s contract than what is currently budgeted for the town manager position due to the lack of benefits.
CalPERS policies also limit Linder to no more than 960 hours of work per fiscal year, however the fiscal year turns over in July which will allow the town more flexibility.
“We’re very excited about this and we are hoping for a very productive six months at least, or maybe even a year,” said Council member Mary Hufty. “We have lots of problems to solve and we have somebody on staff who can do it, so I’m all for it.”
The Town Council will be appointing a new subcommittee at the next council meeting as part of the ongoing permanent town manager recruitment. The subcommittee will be responsible for selecting the recruiting firm and recommending it to the council for approval.
Portola Valley deserves a great, engaged Town Manager and they are lucky to have someone like Mark who is both willing and capable of digging them out of this deep hole.
Good luck to Mark in his new job!