Eugene city councilors, although divided in their decision, offered the job of city manager to Jon Ruiz, one of two assistant city managers from Fresno, Calif., on Saturday night.
Ruiz called Mayor Kitty Piercy on Sunday morning to accept the offer of the city’s highest non-elected position.
“I have a new motto now: Go Ducks,” Ruiz said. “My interest and goal will be to develop positive partnerships with the elected officials and the community as well.”
The council interviewed three candidates for the position on Saturday afternoon, and with a 5-3 vote it decided on Ruiz (pronounced Reese).
Councilor Alan Zelenka voted in favor of Ruiz, and he said his judgment was based on Ruiz’s possession of the three “Ps”: “He was personal, proactive and prepared,” Zelenka said. “He struck me as having a really good sense of our need to build trust in the community.”
The hire will not be final until background and reference checks have been completed and salary negotiations are worked out, but Zelenka said he believes Ruiz will be in his new position by April.
The position has been held by interim City Manager Angel Jones since July, when then-City Manager Dennis Taylor left and moved to Montana.
Taylor and Jones both received an annual salary of $149,323, said city Communications Director Jan Bohman. Ruiz’s salary has not yet been finalized, she said.
Ruiz was exposed early to the often divided city council sentiment when councilors Bonny Bettman, Betty Taylor and Andrea Ortiz voted against hiring him as the city manager. Five councilors, including Council President Chris Pryor, voted in favor of hiring Ruiz.
“Any city manager position is going to deal with differing points of view. But what is important is that he be able to work with those differing points of view and achieve solutions,” Pryor said. “All the qualifications he had, his application and his interview were all good and made him a good fit for the city.”
Ruiz, 49, began working for the city of Fresno as the public works director in 2003 after holding a similar position in Ogden, Utah. As one of two assistant city managers in a town of nearly 500,000, Ruiz is currently responsible for more than 2,000 employees in seven divisions in Fresno.
The Eugene position oversees approximately 1,500 employees and manages a $498 million budget.
Bettman, Taylor and Ortiz voted for Joe Lessard, a former assistant city manager in Austin, Texas, for 9 1/2 years who recently worked as a private consultant.
The third candidate, Dan Hobbs, managed seven cities, including Fresno, and resigned in October as the city manager of Tracy, Calif.
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