The Oakdale City Council announced that former Atwater Assistant City Manager Stan Feathers will take over as the part-time interim city manager on July 1when current Interim City Manager Greg Wellman is required to leave the post.
The move is pending a likely California Public Employee Retirement System approval, which would restrict Feathers to working no more than 960 hours in a fiscal year and, like Wellman, can only work in an interim position no more than one year.
The move patterns the City of Atwater, whose council members appointed Feathers their interim city manager when Wellman retired in 2010. Feathers retired from Atwater in April 2011.
Feathers, who has also served as a budget officer for Modesto and finance director for Atwater, has been working for Oakdale as a $74 per hour non-benefitted project manager since September 2011. Feathers will continue to be paid $74 per hour as interim city manager while the recruitment for a permanent replacement is conducted.
“This is an exciting opportunity with a lot of challenges,” said Feathers. “I think this a sensational time to work with the council and I’m confident we will make good decisions for the community.”
Feathers’ predecessor Wellman had positive things to say about the appointment.
“Stan is a seasoned pro, a real value player, and will bring a strong work ethic and an attention to detail very much needed now in Oakdale,” Wellman said. “His forte just happens to be finance and budget, real tough to recruit in valley governments right now. Any city would indeed be fortunate to engage a person of his experience and integrity.”
Wellman will continue to work on some contracted special projects after July under Feathers’ helm as the city attempts to recover from some of its recently discovered financial setbacks.
“Stan is a numbers person, his financial expertise is going to be needed to help get us on the right track,” said Mayor Pat Paul. “He is the one who uncovered all of our financial problems. He can help us find the solutions.”
This month Oakdale opened its recruitment for the city manager position, which pays $129,029 to $155,532 a year plus city benefits. The city anticipates hiring a permanent city manager by the end of the year.
