Two candidates for Rockville City Council are calling for the mayor and council to hold off on hiring a new city manager until after the Nov. 7 municipal election that will select a new mayor and City Council for four-year terms.
After a seven-year stint as city manager, Robert DiSpirito resigned Friday following a closed council session to discuss his performance.
“Rockville is in the midst of an election for Mayor and all six City Council seats. It should be up to a new Mayor and City Council to decide upon City Manager candidates – one whom they will hire to work for the City of Rockville for the foreseeable future,” City Council candidate Barry Jackson wrote in a press release Monday. Jackson, whose campaign website calls him a 16-year Rockville resident and president of the King Farm Citizens Assembly, did not respond to a request from MoCo360 for further comment this week.
Adam Van Grack, who is also running for a council seat, shared a press release with MoCo360 Tuesday sharing similar sentiments to Jackson.
“The new Mayor and Council will work with the new City Manager for at least four years. Therefore, they should have significant input into the selection of that City Manager through an open process that allows them to determine the City Manager’s qualifications,” Van Grack wrote, adding that he “urges” the current council to delay the hiring process.
Van Grack grew up in Rockville and owns his own law firm, according to his campaign website. He also serves on the Public Policy Committee of the Rockville Chamber of Commerce.
Mayor Bridget Newton and the City Council accepted DiSpirito’s resignation Aug. 17 and appointed Deputy City Manager Barack Matite as acting city manager effective immediately, according to a city press release.
DiSpirito had been placed on a three-month performance improvement plan by the mayor and council in May. While the plan and its reasoning were discussed privately in a closed session, the 4-1 vote was made publicly. Councilmember Mark Pierzchala was the sole member to vote against instating the plan.
DiSpirito had served as city manager since January 2017. He told MoCo360 on Friday he was leaving to “pursue another endeavor.”
“I am very proud of having led as City Manager these past seven years a team of incredibly talented employees, with the steady policy guidance of the Mayor and Council, to a solid record of numerous achievements and quality public services for our residents. … It has been a true privilege to have served Rockville as its chief executive for all of these years, and to have worked so closely and successfully with such wonderful employees, the Mayor and Council, and residents,” DiSpirito wrote in a Aug. 19 statement to MoCo360.
He said Matite “is extremely professional and capable and will do a terrific job. He deserves everyone’s support.”
Jackson and Van Grack are asking for Matite to stay in the role of acting city manager until after the new mayor and council are seated.
“We need to have the newly elected Mayor and City Council hire a City Manager through a transparent and thorough process. Rockville needs to have a City Manager who has the full confidence of the new Mayor and City Council and of all Rockville’s residents. We can only do this with a process begun after the election of a new Mayor and City Council,” Jackson said in the release.
City spokesperson Sean Sedam told MoCo360 there is not currently a plan in place to hire a new city manager, and that it won’t be discussed until the council returns from recess Sept. 11.
Marissa Valeri, who is also running for City Council, said she also thinks the hiring process should be managed by the new council, but that she doesn’t think it would be finished before the election anyway.
“The whole process takes so long — the vetting, the whole interview process … it’s just inconceivable that it would happen before the election,” she said.
According to Valeri’s campaign website, she is a lifelong county resident and a 13-year Rockville resident. She works in the nonprofit sector and has served as president of the Twinbrook Community Association, is co-founder of the Rockville Pedestrian Advocacy Committee, and served on the most recent Rockville Charter Review Commission.
Candidate Kate Fulton said she thinks the council that will be elected in November should choose the new city manager, but also that the city should not delay in preparing for the process.
“… getting permanent leadership in place as soon as possible is critical and these processes take a long time. City staff should not be delayed in preparing job qualifications and recruitment strategies so that the process can start shortly after receiving input from the newly elected leadership,” she wrote in an email statement to MoCo360.
According to Fulton’s website, she has 20 years of experience working as a policy-maker, attorney and operations leader.
Matite, Newton and three councilmembers did not respond to requests for comment this week regarding the hiring plan and timeline. Councilmembers Beryl Feinberg referred MoCo360 to Matite and a spokesperson for the city manager’s office, who did not respond to requests for comment this week.
