As Guadalupe begins its search for a new city administrator, the City Council voted on Aug. 1 to appoint J. Edward Tewes to fill the spot temporarily until a permanent replacement is found.
Tewes replaces former administrator Andrew Carter, whose last day was July 29.
According to the employment agreement with the city, Tewes is to serve until Oct. 31, although he could leave before then if the city finds a permanent replacement. Tewes’ first official day was Aug. 3 and he’ll be paid at a rate of $55.13 per hour, according to the agreement.
Following Carter’s resignation announcement, Tewes told the Sun that the city attorney reached out to several people—including himself—who are qualified to hold the position.
Before signing on with Guadalupe, Tewes was a city manager for several other cities in California, including Gilroy and Morgan Hill—both in Santa Clara County.
Tewes served for more than 13 years with Morgan Hill before retiring. While there, he became entangled in a 2002 controversy involving surveillance, litigation, and an alleged affair with the city attorney.
At the time, a Morgan Hill City Council rejection of a development proposal prompted local attorney Bruce Tichinin to hire a private investigator to follow Tewes, accusing him and the city attorney of being involved in a romantic relationship. Tewes discovered he was being followed, and the City Council voted to condemn the surveillance.
Tichinin sued for unlawful retaliation; the city sued back and won, but the California’s Sixth Appellate Court eventually reversed the judgment in 2009.
One of Tewes’ career achievements came when he was the interim city administrator in Gilroy. Tewes helped avert a citywide strike by reaching a tentative labor agreement with more than 100 of the city’s workers in November 2015.
Tewes is what they call a “retired annuitant,” he said, which makes him eligible to assist Guadalupe for the next two months. He added that he isn’t being considered as the permanent replacement and if he were, he’d need to come out of retirement.
In his position, he’ll be assisting in the search for a permanent city administrator. Tewes’ employment contract puts him in a temporary position with the city until the end of October, although he “made a commitment to work with them through the interim period” until a replacement is found.
Until that time comes, he accepts his new position during a period where the city is still recovering from a fiscal emergency that was declared two years ago.
“I’m learning there are a lot of challenges here,” Tewes told the Sun. “Guadalupe has high ambitions that require administrative leadership.”
This article appears in Aug 11-18, 2016.
