Los Altos Hills residents won’t let the issue of Mark Miller’s departure die. The apparent forced resignation of the town manager last month prompted resident Harry Emerzian to demand a written letter of explanation regarding Miller’s and other staff departures.
“I know former City Manager Jeff Peterson left because he didn’t feel comfortable working here and felt his position wasn’t safe,” Emerzian told the council at last Thursday’s meeting. “You have been hammering on Curtis (Williams) and now he is leaving. I thought Mark did a fair job and I was impressed with him but he is also gone.
“This is costing us money. It’s poor management and you (council) are the management. How are we going to stop this? I think we need a letter from each of you.”
Sandy Sloan, town city attorney, said that no minutes are kept on closed sessions. To ask for a letter from each councilmember wouldn’t mean anything, Sloan indicated, because there would be five different opinions.
Sloan said Miller wishes to put the town of Los Altos Hills behind him and continue with his own life.
Dauber said she read an article in the Wall Street Journal that said workplace specialists name dissatisfaction with their supervisors, not their paychecks as the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs.
“I try to feel what is going on and being a tough boss doesn’t cut it,” Dauber said. “Many times we treated our staff with a lack of respect and offered little courtesy to them.”
“The staff here was second to none,” Emerzian said. “You’re going to go a long way before you can replace them.”
Resident Mike Scott suggested “(councilmember) Toni Casey should become city manager and the town go to a strong mayor system of government.”
