City Council to begin evaluating city manager applicants

The Menifee City Council will meet in closed session on Wednesday to begin evaluating the approximately 45 applicants for the city manager's position.

Ron Bradley, who has served as interim city manager since February, said council members will be given a report from city staff and a private consulting group with preliminary information about the applicants. The council will then begin the task of choosing the candidates they would like to interview.

The goal is to have a new city manager in place in time for Bradley to work with his replacement in a transition period before Bradley leaves. As a CalPers retiree, Bradley is allowed to work only 24 weeks per fiscal year, which means he must leave the position by mid-December.

Bradley was hired from a small field of candidates who applied for the interim city manager position while an extensive search was conducted for a full-time replacement. Rob Johnson left the position in December 2016 after a special City Council review of his performance, which came shortly after it was revealed that Johnson signed a $12,400 check to pay for then-mayor Scott Mann to attend a leadership seminar at Harvard. That check was signed without the knowledge of other council members and was voided after others learned of it.

The controversy surrounding Johnson's departure included the announcement of a separation agreement stating that Johnson would receive six months' severance pay, plus the cash value of two additional months' pay for agreeing to waive the 60-day notice required to terminate his contract. Thus officially, Johnson left through resignation and walked away with $235,491.

The new city manager will be the City's sixth in the nine years since Menifee was incorporated.

Bradley previously worked as city manager in Temecula, La Mesa, Laguna Hills, Murrieta and Hemet. His salary is based on the salary Johnson was receiving at the time of his departure -- $16,230 per month, with additional benefits paid by the State of California.